Lucid Dream: Until Dawn
by YinYangWriter
Summary: She has one goal in this dream. Get them all off the mountain. She knows the story, knows the possible outcomes, but can she keep them all alive? Or will her choices change things so drastically she has no way of controlling the fate of eight people or her own fate for that matter? OC STORY. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR UNTIL DAWN!
1. Prologue

**I'm back again with a new Halloween piece. This one is going to have a lot of firsts for me. This is the first time I've written a story based solely on a video game, the first multi-chapter Halloween piece, and also the first "self-insert" piece. I've been meaning to do something a bit different from what I've been doing. For those of you who have been keeping track of my updates and other stories, nothing has been abandoned, it has just been put on hold. I know some of you love the _Dragon Trainer, Dragon Speaker_ series - that's on hold for the time being. And those who have stayed with _Special Talents_ , thank you, and I'm working on finishing out that story. I do not own Until Dawn and some of the jokes you may see here are not mine, as are the "Let's Plays" they come from. Special shout outs to youtubers Markiplier and Jacksepticeye. If you're reading this, you guys are wonderful and this story wouldn't exist without you. Thank you for all that you do. It may not seem like much, but you do have much of an impact with your viewers.**

* * *

Lucid dream: Noun. A dream state in which one is conscious enough to recognize that one is in the dream state and which stays in one's memory.

Lucid dreaming is something I've been able to do for a long time. I can go to sleep and live out my dreams in books, movies, and games. I can become anyone when I dream, do anything, even the impossible. But I can do it too well. If I get hurt, I wake up injured. I think if I died in a lucid dream, I could die for real. I'm not going to test that theory.

Another thing; I'm not always in complete control of everything. Think of it as the butterfly effect. One change could affect the outcome of the story, for good or for bad. And since I'm not in control, I have to be prepared for anything. It's constant research on my part because when I dream, I'm given a goal. I don't always decide the goal, but in order for me to get out of that world I have to complete the goal. If I don't complete the goal by the time I wake up, I come back the next night and the night after until the job is done. I don't know why, but that's how it is. And I kind of like it. It gives me a challenge.

Welcome to my dreaming.

* * *

 **Just a little set up. Figured I'd give you some idea of what's going on before I jump completely into the story.**


	2. 1: Tempest: 10 Hours Until Dawn

**I apologize ahead of time for any spelling, grammar, and story mistakes. I went over this thing twice and I think I got all of the mistakes, but that doesn't mean something slipped by me. Also, straight off the bat, there are some serious spoilers.**

 **If you haven't played _Until Dawn_ , and want to go in it blind, you're going to want to turn back now. I'm serious. There are spoilers galore in here. You have been warned.**

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When I first became aware of my dream, I was in my car. It was dark and it was snowing. There were trees on either side of the road and I was on quite the decline.

"Crap," I muttered. My car wasn't the best in snowy conditions, but it could get me from Point A to Point B eventually. The only problem at the moment was that I didn't know where Point B was. I had to pull over somewhere to check my purse.

I passed a bus stop, but there was nowhere to pull over. It was another mile before I found a place I could safely pull off. I had a feeling I wouldn't need my car, but I didn't want to chance it. I left the car running for the heat. My purse wasn't where I usually kept it on the passenger seat. Instead, my carry-on bag was in the back seat. If the bag was packed like I usually packed it, my purse should be right on top.

I pulled the bag up front and found my purse. I found my phone and my wallet. I opened my wallet and the place where I kept my license only had a blank card. I could choose my identity.

"Helps if I knew 'where' I am," I said to the wallet. I hated having duplicate names with one of the characters. It could get seriously annoying when someone was calling for someone who shared a name and you had to take the time to figure out who that person was speaking to. It wasted precious seconds when you were trying to keep yourself alive.

It was then I noticed I had the radio on. This could be helpful.

"Okay, radio. Where am I?"

I turned up the volume. The song was in the middle of playing. "-no silver no gold. Nothing satisfies me but your soul. O Death, I come to take the soul. Leave the body and leave it cold. O Death, O Death. Won't you spare me over 'til another year?"

I turned off the radio. " _Until Dawn_. Oh, boy. This is going to get interesting."

I went back to my wallet. "Okay. I think we figured this out. My name is Tempest Avalon, I'm twenty and I'm studying psychology. I'm currently researching the psychological aspect of legends and myths in different cultures and the local Native American legends."

I watched my license ink itself in. I had gray eyes and long ash-brown hair. I was average height and athletic. I knew I would need the edge to survive. This was about surviving, not fighting head on with brute strength. That wouldn't work here.

I looked up at the rearview mirror. My eyes were lined in aqua eyeliner. I had a light nude gloss on my lips. It was a simple makeup and it would work for what I needed. Clothing wise, I was dressed warm with thick leggings under stretch jeans. My black winter boots were laced up with no fear of falling off when I ran. I was wearing an evergreen coat over a gray turtleneck. Something else I noticed was that I was wearing jewelry. It's something I didn't normally wear, especially rings while I'm driving. There were five silver rings, each with a different colored butterfly: black, red, brown, yellow, and white. There was also a watch on my wrist that was keeping the time of day, but also counting down. Judging from the countdown, I had about ten hours before it reached 00:00.

"Ten hours to go until dawn. Nice."

I got out my phone. There was an alert on the lock screen that I had missed. I unlocked my phone and clicked on the alert. Two words popped up.

SAVE JOSH.

I had to think a moment. There was a way in the game for all of them to survive. So why was I here?

"Crap, because of the wendigo. Josh never really makes it out. He never makes it off the mountain. I got to save all eight. But that's near impossible."

I ran my hand through my hair. This was definitely going to be fun. Glad I came up with a convincing cover story.

I turned off my car and got my things. I was going to have to backtrack the mile to get to the bus stop. If I remembered the let's plays that I watched, Sam was getting off the bus at nine o'clock with ten hours until dawn. Sun up was at seven. We just had to take it one hour at a time.

My phone gave me another alert.

10 MINUTE REMINDER: MEET SAM AT BUS STOP.

"Shoot!"

I started running back up the mountain. About halfway there, the bus passed me.

"I'm not going to make it," I panted.

I kept running.

At last I saw the bus stop and the bus was just pulling away. Time to get to work.

"Wait! Wait!" I yelled. I chased after the bus even though I knew I wasn't going to catch it.

I saw a blonde girl with green eyes look at me from the bus stop. She was wearing a black leather jacket, red plaid skirt, and tights. Her hair was pulled back and tucked up under a black fur hat. Sam was right on schedule.

I slid to a stop. "Great," I groaned.

"Miss your bus?" Sam asked.

"Ya think?" I deadpanned, catching my breath.

"What are you doing out here?" Sam asked me.

"Car trouble," I told her. I held up my phone. "And reception sucks up here."

Sam paused in thought. "Look, we're miles away from civilization. That was the last bus for the day."

I smirked. "If that's supposed to make me feel better, it's not."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, I guess it doesn't. What I'm trying to say is that I don't think my friend would mind having you over until morning. I think the others won't mind either, but his family owns the lodge. Well, the entire mountain, actually, and I don't think they'll give him too much grief about it."

"Thanks," I said. "I hope he doesn't kick me out when he sees me."

"Nah," Sam brushed off. "I think they'll be too busy partying to notice."

"Well, when life gives you lemons," I started.

"Yeah. I'm Sam, by the way." She held out her hand to shake.

I shook her hand. "Tempest."

"Tempest? That's different."

I smiled. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

"Come on," said Sam. "We have a bit of a walk to get to the cable car."

We started up the trail that led to the cable car. I looked up as we passed under the Blackwood Pines sign.

I took inventory of what I knew about the characters. Sam was the most level-headed of the bunch. She didn't freak out and when she did, she put it to good use. She could think under pressure and thought things through. The voice of reason in other words. I would need her help before this was all over.

We didn't get far before we heard something off the trail.

"Hello? Someone there?" called Sam.

No answer.

It could have been one of two people I could think of. The Stranger was up on the mountain taking care of things in the sanatorium, so it wasn't him. I didn't remember where Josh was at this point, but it was possible he was following us to see if he could scare us before he set his friends loose in the hell he created for them. Crap, I was going to have to keep them from leaving him out in the shed after that went down. The other person could have been Chris, waiting to scare the crap out of us.

"Probably an animal," I told Sam. "They don't exactly fear humans on this mountain."

"How come?" asked Sam.

"The Cree believe in living in harmony with the wildlife," I told her. "They didn't hunt here, but had their hunting grounds somewhere else."

I followed Sam down the path to the cable car. We came to gate with a note attached to the latch.

"Oh, what?" muttered Sam, yanking the paper off. "Dammit."

"What is it?" I asked, leaning over her shoulder.

The gate's busted, climb over! –Chris.

I gave the gate a try, but it was stuck. I moved to the wall. "It's not that hard to climb."

I started up. It was easy enough. At the top, I waited for Sam.

Sam began to follow me. She only slipped once, but she didn't fall. I pulled her up to the top.

"See? No so bad," I smiled at her.

We both dropped down on the other side.

A squirrel came out from the trees.

"Aw," cooed Sam. She knelt down and picked up a nut. "Hey, little fella. Ya hungry?"

I didn't move and neither did Sam as the squirrel came up and took from her hand.

Sam giggled. "Cutie!"

"I told you," I said quietly, not to startle the squirrel.

The squirrel finished its meal and bounded off with the rest of the nut.

Sam stood up and dusted her hands off. "Come on."

Up the trail a little farther was a plaque and a totem pole.

"Oh, cool!" said Sam. "Tempest, look at this."

It was the plaque explaining the butterfly totems.

"'Tribes who once lived in these mountains believed that butterflies carried dreams and prophesies of possible futures. The color of the butterfly indicated the nature of the prophecy. Black butterflies prophesied the dreamer's death. Red butterflies warned of dangerous events. Brown butterflies foretold of tragedies affecting friends. Yellow butterflies offered visions to help and guide. White butterflies brought dreams of luck and good fortune.' Hey, aren't you wearing rings those colors?"

I looked at my hands. I had the yellow and white butterflies on my left hand and the black, red, and brown on my right hand, both ring fingers, both middle fingers, and the black on my right index finger.

"And they're butterflies, too," Sam added. "Did you plan that?"

"Kinda," I replied. "I'll tell you when we get to the lodge. I want to get out of the cold."

"I hear you," Sam agreed.

Sam glanced down and saw something on the ground. It was a totem. She picked it up and turned it over.

 _A bird landed on a picnic table and then fly away._

"Whoa," said Sam, putting the totem down. "What was that?"

I looked down at my rings. The yellow butterfly ring seemed to twinkle in the lower left wing. The same was the same of the black butterfly ring. The rings were keeping count of the found totems.

Wasn't the first totem a death one telling of Beth's death?

 _Beth fell and hit a rock, breaking her neck. She rolled the rest of the way to come to stop by her sister._

I jumped when a hand was put on my shoulder.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." No, I wasn't. It wasn't every day that you look at your ring and they give you a vision of someone dying.

"You sure? You look a little pale."

"Yeah, yeah," I insisted.

Sam frowned at me. "Did you see what I saw?"

"I don't know. What did you see?"

"A bird on a picnic table and it flying away," said Sam.

"Nothing else?"

"No, nothing. You?"

"I saw the same." I left out the part about seeing Beth die. Apparently the others could see the visions when they picked up the totems, but only I could see the playback.

Sam tugged at my hand. "The station's right around the corner."

We walked out of the trees. She was right, but it looked like we were the first there.

There was a sign that we had to walk passed. It was a map of the area, but there was red graffiti across it.

THE PAST IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL.

"Wow. Graffiti all the way up here?" whispered Sam.

We kept walking to the cable car station.

"Chris, you here?" Sam called going over to one of the benches. There was a backpack sitting there. "Bag's here. Where are you? You're not in the bag, are you?"

I joined Sam as Chris's phone started going off.

"Hello. What do we have here?" Sam pushed the phone back into the bag and zipped it closed. "Maybe we shouldn't go through Chris's stuff."

"Agreed," I said.

Sam tried one more time. "Chris!"

"Sam!"

We turned around. Standing there was a young man in jeans and a blue coat layered over a green sweater, and another tan shirt. He had short dark blonde hair and blue eyes. Perched on his nose was a pair of rectangular framed glasses.

"Hey, hey, you made it," said Chris. He turned to me. "And Sam's friend? I don't remember you on the invite list."

Sam introduced us. "Chris, this is Tempest. Her car broke down and she couldn't catch the bus back to town. Tempest, this is Chris."

"Hi," I said.

Sam winced slightly. "You don't think Josh will mind, do you?"

"I doubt it. Besides, you're pretty cute," Chris told me.

I blushed a little. "Thanks."

Chris turned his attention to something else. "Oh, so, I found something kinda amazing."

"What?" asked Sam.

Chris picked up his bag. "I'm not going to tell you. You got to see for yourself. Come on. It's this way."

"Where?"

"Right around here. It's going to blow your mind."

We followed Chris around the back of the cable car station.

It gave me time to think. If Chris didn't scare us, who was sneaking around? I was certain Stranger was up on the mountain already. But I couldn't remember where Josh was right this second. Wasn't he supposed to be waiting at the lodge for them? I could be wrong. I focused more on the dangers of the game when I watched the let's plays.

Chris took us out to the shooting range.

Speaking of let's plays, there was a clue around here somewhere. I wasn't sure if I would have to find all the clues to save us – that would be close to impossible – but I could at least grab what I could.

"Aw, man, look at this," said Sam. She had found a wanted poster on the back wall.

"Nice!" said Chris. "You think we'll get a visit from America's Most Wanted?"

"Looks like someone thought so," said Sam.

"Oh, come on! This place is abandoned most of the year," Chris said. "Nobody comes up here."

"That you know of," I said under my breath.

Sam looked at me. "Did you say something?"

"Nothing," I answered.

Chris showed us the shooting range. "Ta-da! Pretty rad, right?"

"Yeah!" Sam mocked.

Chris motioned to the targets and the gun. "Come on! Look at these beauties."

"'Beauties' is not the word that comes to mind," said Sam. "Why is this even here?"

Chris picked up the rifle. "What do you mean?"

"What the hell is a shooting range doing at the base of a ski lodge?"

"Uh, dude. Have you ever met Josh's dad?" Chris asked.

"Yeah," answered Sam.

"He thinks he's Grizzly Adams or something. Wanna try?"

"Uh, no, you go ahead, Grizzly."

"Okay. Tempest, wanna try?"

I shook my head. "I know my aim's not that good."

Chris brought the rifle up to shoot. "All right. Here it goes."

He fired off a shot at one of the bags. Then another at a can. A second can was hit with his third shot. The fourth hit another bag.

"Wow! Nice shootin', Tex," Sam said with a fake southern accent.

"All right, I'm bad." Chris started doing a little dance. "I'm a badass."

"Chris, stop dancing around with a loaded weapon in your hand," I told him.

He didn't say anything to me, but he did stop dancing.

Sam decided to poke a little fun at him. "I'm gonna go ahead and guess it was a wild case of beginner's luck."

"No, I don't think so, girl," said Chris, lining up another shot. He fried again, hitting a bottle.

"Well, anybody and their brother could hit a bottle that big that close," Sam went on.

I saw a squirrel come out and take a place on a barrel. It sat up with a nut in its paws and started eating without a care in the world.

Chris took aim again.

"Don't you dare hit that squirrel!" I snapped.

I startled Chris and Sam.

"What? Why?" Chris asked.

"Tempest says the Native Americans believed living harmoniously with the animals and they didn't hunt on this mountain," said Sam.

"So?" Chris shrugged. "We're not Native Americans."

"There is also the belief of eating what you kill and not letting anything go to waste," I continued. "So unless you're going to make squirrel stew tonight, keep to the bottles and cans."

Chris put a hand up in surrender. "Okay, I won't hit the squirrel." He took his final shot at a bag.

"Nice shot," said Sam.

"Your ass just got sacked," Chris joked.

Sam looked up at the cable car. "Hey, sharpshooter, our ride's coming."

"Wait, I'm just getting the hang of this," he said, starting to line up another shot.

"Come on, Chris, the cable car," Sam insisted.

Chris put the gun down and we went back around to the station door.

"It's definitely weird coming back here after a whole year," said Chris.

"Yeah, I swear the moment I got here it all came flooding back," Sam agreed. She went to the door and tried it. "Hey, that's weird. The door's locked."

Chris took a key out of his pocket. "Yeah, Josh said to keep it locked to keep people out."

"He said that?" asked Sam. "What people?"

"I don't know," replied Chris. "He said they found people sleeping in the station one time."

"Did he ever say who?" I asked.

"No," said Chris.

"That's creepy," said Sam.

I shrugged. "Could have been some hikers who got lost and bedded down here for the night."

Chris unlocked the door for us. "After you."

Sam stepped inside and looked at where the cable car was. "Man, I thought the car was closer."

Chris closed the door after me. "Guess we gotta wait," he said.

"I'm starting to get the appeal of killing time at the shooting range," said Sam. "How long is this going to take?"

"It's a big mountain," defended Chris.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "It's so beautiful in the day, but at night, it just feels menacing. Like a sleeping giant."

Chris glanced at her. "You gonna publish?"

"What?" asked Sam.

"Your pretty poem. 'The Sleeping Giant of Blackwood Forest'," Chris said dramatically.

"Oh, shut up," she told him.

As they were talking, I started looking around the station. I found a television monitor that was turned on. When I looked at it, it showed a bathroom with a large tub before switching to the cable car station. One the wall, there was a poster for the Blackwood Sanatorium and Hotel.

"Your friend must be loaded," I called.

"Not that rich," countered Sam. "They only bought a mountain."

I walked out to wait with them. "Right. It's not like they bought their own country. I gotta ask though: why is there a sanatorium and hotel up here? I usually don't think of those two things together in the same sentence, much less the same area."

Chris shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

The cable car came to a stop and the door opened for us.

"Finally," said Sam. "You coming?"

"Well, I was going to catch some Z's, but yeah," said Chris.

We boarded the cable car. Sam and Chris sat on the bench. I set my bag down and held on to the metal bar. The cable car door closed and it jerked to a start.

"Here we go," said Sam.

Chris grinned. "All right! The adventure begins."

Sam rolled her eyes. "I hope this is the right thing to do."

"What?" asked Chris.

"You know, getting everyone together on the anniversary," said Sam. "I mean Josh seemed really pumped about us all doing something, didn't he?"

"Yeah, no, he definitely did," said Chris. "I haven't seen him so excited about something in forever."

Sam nodded. "Good, good. It's hard to tell sometimes with him. I'm kinda worried."

"No," said Chris. "It was a good idea."

"Um, I know I'm just the party crasher," I started, "but what happened?" I already knew, of course, but it wanted it told to me verbally since I had to save these guys.

Sam shook her head. "You wouldn't know. Josh's twin sisters disappeared up here last year. They never found them."

"Oh," I said. "Did they get lost in the woods camping?"

"No," replied Sam. "We played this horrible prank on Hannah. She ran out of the lodge and Beth followed her."

I blinked. "That prank must have been pretty horrible if she ran out of the lodge like that. What did you do?"

"I never wanted them to do it," Sam admitted. "I should have stopped them."

Chris put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "There's nothing we can do about it now. We were terrible friends."

Chris decided to answer for Sam. "We left a note from our friend Mike that he wanted to see Hannah without her shirt on. You see, Hannah had a huge crush on Mike, who was dating our friend Emily at the time. Still not sure what happened between them. They broke up a couple months ago. Anyway, we all hid in the bedroom, well, except for Beth and Josh. I think Josh was passed out drunk."

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Oh, come on, Tempest, you can't tell me you haven't partied before," said Chris.

"I haven't actually," I replied. "Not the party you're thinking of. And I am a little worried. I know we're in the mountains, but I can be guilty by association if someone catches you boozing. Back to what happened."

Chris sighed. "Yeah, we all hid and watched. And we filmed it, too."

"Wow." I left the word hang for a moment. "Some friends you are."

"Yeah, I know," Sam said bitterly.

"What was the point?" I asked.

"We were just messing around," Chris defended.

"And it got someone killed," I retorted.

"Wait, what?" Chris gave a nervous laugh. "No one died. Hannah and Beth are just missing."

"Chris." I looked him dead in the eye. "They've disappeared into a snowstorm. Hannah was upset and I don't think she took the time to be properly dressed before running out. Even if Beth found her, they weren't prepared to be out there. They've been missing for a year and there hasn't been any sign of them. I'm all for wishful thinking, but chances are good that they're dead."

"Can we please talk about something else?" snapped Sam.

Chris and I looked at her. Sam looked like she was going to start crying soon.

"Sure, Sam," said Chris. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything, but Hannah and Beth," Sam answered.

"Okay," said Chris. "So what do you do, Tempest?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you go to school?"

I smiled, remembering my cover story. "I'm studying to be a psychologist. I'm actually out here working on a paper."

This grabbed Sam's attention. "A psychology paper out here?"

"Yeah, I know it sounds kinda strange," I admitted. "I'm currently researching the psychological aspect of legends and myths in different cultures and the local Native American legends. I met a local to learn more about the folklore in the area."

"So that's why you knew about the Native Americans and not hunting on this mountain," said Sam.

"And how's the paper looking?" asked Chris.

"I'm still in the research stage," I told them. "Listen, every story has a grain of truth. Part of me wants to find that bit of truth, but the other part wants to learn why it got so blown out of proportion. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I should major in psychology or anthropology. I would really like to do both."

"Or maybe journalism," Sam suggested.

I snorted. "Journalism. Why would I want to be one of the sheep who reports on fear mongering? No thank you."

We reached the top and got out of the cable car. Once again the door to the cable car station locked. A face appeared on the other side of the glass. It was another blonde, but she had her hair in pigtails. From what I could see through the little window, she had a lavender pink coat on.

"What the hell?" she cried.

"Jessica, over here," said Sam.

"Uh, are you guys having a really weird stroke?" Jess asked.

"We're stuck in this stupid thing," said Chris.

"Can you please let us out?" asked Sam. "Pretty please?"

Jess opened the door for us.

Chris walked out. "Oh. My. God. I thought we were goners," he said sarcastically. "Another ten minutes in there and I would have chewed off my own leg off." "

Sam followed him. "Oh, sick, Chris."

I cringed, closing the door behind me.

"Look I gotta lot of meat on my bones," said Chris. "It's all muscle down here."

"Yeah, right," was Sam's sarcastic reply.

Chris reached over and snatched something out of Jess's hand.

"Hey!" cried Jess.

Chris now had Jess's envelope. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? My goodness! Seems that someone has a little crush on our good friend and dear class president, Michael Munroe. And what kind of sizzling erotica might our Jessica be capable of imagining. I wonder."

"Mike and Em split up," Jess blurted. "We're together."

This took Chris and Sam by surprise.

"Whoa, drama," said Chris.

"Not really," said Jess. "Pretty clear cut, actually. Em's out. I'm in." She walked up to Chris and snatched the envelope out of his hand.

"Wow," said Sam. "I knew Mike and Emily broke up. Didn't know Mike moved on so quick."

Jess gave a shrug. "I guess it helps that I take his mind off of it a little." She then seemed to notice me. "And you are?"

"Carless, busless, and roofless if your friend Josh doesn't let me stay here for the night," I answered.

Jess blinked, confused.

"My car broke down and I missed the last bus back to town," I explained more clearly.

"Oh," said Jess. "I think Josh would be okay with it."

Chris turned and started for the trail. "All right, all right, let's just get up to the lodge already. Getting tired of all this nature and junk."

"Uh, you guys go ahead," said Jess. "I'm just going to wait her for a bit. See who else is coming."

"You mean Mike?" Chris asked quietly.

"What?" asked Jess. "I mean, you know, whoever."

"Uh-huh," said Chris. "Sam? Tempest?"

Sam was looking at the view. I joined her, but not to just look at the view. It was getting windy up here. That storm was going to be here soon. I still wasn't sure how I was going to do this. I doubt I would be able to do much until we reach chapter five. I didn't even know what the chapters were going to be named. Your choices decided the chapter names. Heck, I didn't even know if that was going to matter!

"Did you see this view?" asked Sam. "I mean, holy cow! Sometimes I forget to just stop and take it all in."

So what now? Sam and Chris don't show up until the next chapter in the game. I guess I just needed to keep things flowing at this point. I knew nothing was going to happen for now. Mike and Jess are the ones who get attacked first in the game. If things stay on track, I should be good for a bit.

"Tempest, you coming?" Sam called. She and Chris were already heading up the trail.

"Yeah, I'm coming." I ran to catch up with them.

I glanced down at my watch. It had only been ten minutes since we met up with Chris. I had a feeling Mike was already here. Emily and Matt would soon be coming up, passing Jess at the station. I remember Mike going back down to meet Jess and having their snowball fight.

Crap! Snowball fight! The bird! I never had a chance to put anything in place while we were with Jess. Maybe I could influence Jess from here.

One thing I hated about lucid dreaming was that I couldn't always control what was going on. It was like I was bound to the rules of the world I was in. I could break the rules, but it was difficult and had the potential of knocking everything I had work so hard on out of balance. Depending on the world I was in, I could do almost anything. If the world I was in had shapeshifters, I could shapeshift. If there was the potential for telekinetic abilities, I could levitate a truck. But this was just a bunch of kids just trying to survive. I had to play normal human for the most part.

But the game was all about choices. I just had to influence the choice. Jess would either hit the bird or do nothing. She didn't necessarily need to be influenced to do one or the other. So what did I need to do?

My phone went off in my pocket.

Chris and Sam turned to me.

"You get service up here?" asked Chris.

I scoffed. "If I did, I wouldn't be here. It's just a reminder." I checked my phone.

MAKE A CHOICE.

So I was being tested as well. I could live with that.

Well, I might as well help their chances along. I focused in on Jess.

Do not hit the bird. Ignore it. Do not hit the bird. Ignore it. Do not hit the bird. Ignore it.

"Hey!"

I broke out of my trance. I had been on autopilot, following Sam and Chris up the trail. Now there was someone else. He had dark hair and was wearing a blue plaid shirt, tan vest, jeans, and a light colored beanie. Josh was here now? What time was it? I glanced down at my watch. It was 9:53. Not second chapter yet. But what the heck happened to the last twenty minutes?

"Sam, Chris," Josh called. "Glad you made it. Didn't have too much trouble getting up here, did you?"

"No trouble," answered Chris. He looked in my direction. "But Sam did pick up a new friend."

"Sorry, Josh," said Sam. "I hope you don't mind. Her car broke down and she missed the last bus."

I gave a small wave in greeting. "Hi. I'm Tempest."

"Well, hello," said Josh. He came down the trail, giving me a good looking over. I wondered if I was pretty enough for his party. "A damsel in distress. I think we can help you out. Like to party, Tempy?"

I rolled my eyes. "Not sure what kind of party you have going on, but I might be up for it. At the very least I can cook for you. And it's Tempest. Never liked being called Tempy. Sounds weak."

"What kind of a name is Tempest anyway?" asked Chris.

I smiled at him. "I'll tell you when we do the full meet and greet with the others. It's not a long story, but I don't like repeating it."

"Sure thing, Tempest," said Josh.

We continued up the trail. It was real steep at some spots.

"Watch your step," Josh called over his shoulder. "It's a bit loose here."

Just as he said it, my foot slid out from under me. "Crap!"

The three of them stopped for me.

"Are you okay?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I put one foot in front of the other. I wasn't hurt.

Sam and Chris started up the trail when they saw I was fine. Josh stayed until I caught up.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked.

I nodded. I was more embarrassed than anything.

Josh offered me his arm. "Wouldn't want you to fall."

I took his arm. "Thanks."

We weren't far from the end of the trail, thankfully. Josh let go when we stopped at the end of the trail where everything leveled out.

"Man, I feel like this mountain gets bigger every time I climb it," Chris commented.

"Oh, yeah?" said Josh. "Feels the same to me."

"Come on, you grew up here," said Chris. "It probably feels like it's shrinking."

"I guess that's true," Josh brushed off.

Chris his phone out of his pocket and held it up to get a signal. He couldn't find one. "When are you going to install some cell towers up here? I mean, I 'm getting withdrawals already."

"You got a spare million lying around and I'll fix you right up," said Josh.

"Funny you should say that," said Chris. He checked his pockets. "I think I left it in my other jacket."

We stepped out into the clearing of the lodge. We weren't the first ones there. A girl with long red hair was sitting on the steps. She was wearing a blue parka, leggings with shorts over top, fur lined boots, and a pink and dark red beanie. The other was a young man with darks skin, short black hair, wearing a blue and white letter jacket and sweats. Ashley and Matt were already waiting for us.

"Hey, guys!" Josh greeted. "Get up here okay?"

"Yeah," Ashely answered brightly. Her expression fell. "Well, more or less, but it is so good to see you."

I looked at Matt. He was seriously pissed. Ashely must have had him look through the binoculars and he saw Mike and Emily.

"What is up with him?" Josh muttered.

Josh and Chris went up onto the porch. The door was froze shut, but they didn't know it yet. I had to find something to do for a few minutes.

I decided to talk to Matt. "Hey. You okay?"

"Yeah," he snapped. Matt got himself together. "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Oh, Tempest." I held out my hand for him to shake. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Matt shook my hand out of courtesy. "There's nothing to talk about."

"You're defensive. You were standing away from your friend on the steps. You have your arms crossed. Not to mention you're pissed. I don't think it's over the trip up here itself. You could have decided to not come if it was because of staying here. So that means something happened on the way up. So what did she do?"

Matt let his arms fall to his sides. "What? Who told you about Em?"

"You, just now," I told him. "There's only a handful of things that get guys wound up like you are and the only one that I can think of that would be on this mountain is a girl."

Matt just stared at me. "How did-?"

"I'll tell you when we get inside," I told him. "Do a full introduction and cover everything with everyone present."

I heard Chris talking to Ashley before leaving with Josh to find a way in. It would be a few minutes for Chris to find what he needed.

 _Flames. Emily's body fell to the floor, severely burned. Someone screamed._

A hand startled me out of it.

Matt was looking down at me. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah," I replied. Someone found another totem, a loss totem. I think it was Chris who found it.

Sam heard Matt and looked at me. "Tempest, seriously, you look like you're about to be sick."

I swallowed and shook my head. "I'm good. Just give me a minute."

"It's not the altitude, is it?" At some point Josh had walked around the house back to us. "Some people get sick up here."

"Josh, I'm fine," I told him.

"Maybe you should lie down whenever we get inside," suggested Ashley. She looked at the door. "What's taking Chris so long? We're freezing our buns off out here."

Chris opened the door and bowed dramatically. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, I'll be here all week."

An animal came charging out.

"Whoa!" I yelled, jumping out of the way.

The others were tormenting Chris over being scared by the animal.

I looked at the bags Matt had to carry. "Do you want help?"

"Sure," said Matt. "You take one and I'll get the other."

I took the pink luggage. Matt didn't strike me as a pink kind of guy, so it had to be Emily's. It was surprisingly heavy. Matt probably didn't think much of it since he was pretty much Emily's pack mule, errand boy, and whatever else you wanted to call him. Geez, but what did she pack? Her entire closet? No, a girl like Emily, she probably packed her entire winter closet. Didn't matter at this point. I wasn't Emily's boyfriend. And there was the strong possibility that they wouldn't even be together by dawn.

* * *

 **Well, there's the first chapter. Not much action at this point, but there wasn't much in the first chapter of the game either. So, what do you think?**


	3. 2: Visions: 9 Hours Until Dawn

**I am actually seriously impressed. Three followers and one favorite in a span of twenty-four hours - I must be doing something right.**

* * *

The lodge felt smaller to me than it did in the game. It was large, don't get me wrong, but compared to the scenes in the game, it just felt more claustrophobic. Sheets covered most of the furniture to keep the dust off.

"Home, sweet home," Josh called.

Matt looked around and set his bag down. "'Sweet' is not the word I would use."

"Oh my gosh, it's so good to be inside," said Ashley. "Even if still kinda freezing in here."

"Utilities have probably been turned to a minimum or off if it's been so long," I commented, setting Emily's suitcase next to Matt's.

"I'll get a fire going," said Josh.

Matt continued to look around. "This place barely looks any different." He sat on a low coffee table.

"Nobody's been up here," Josh said from the fireplace.

"Even with all the police coming in and out?" asked Ashley.

"Not a lot of action up here lately," Chris answered for Josh.

"What's up, party people?"

I turned and saw a raven haired guy come in. He wore a plaid shirt like Josh, but his was blue with some yellow. He had a blue vest over top and jeans. His personality seemed to fill up the room. Mike.

Jess followed him in with a smile on. "Hey!"

Matt looked up at Mike.

"Make yourself at home, bro," Josh told Mike.

"Will do!" Mike saluted.

Matt glared. "Yeah, come on in. Take a load off. Have whatever you want." He got up and walked over to Mike. "You just take whatever you want anyways, right?"

Mike took a step back. "Whoa. Easy there, cowboy."

I didn't need this going to hell so fast. These first fights always led to bigger trouble down the road in the game. I moved over and caught Matt by the arm.

"Not when you're angry," I told Matt quietly.

Matt put his hands up and went back to his seat.

"Uh, who are you?" Mike asked me.

"I think we're waiting on someone else yet," I said.

Seconds later, a girl with black hair wearing a black, fur trimmed jacket and jeans walked in. Emily.

I turned to Josh. "Is everyone here now?"

Josh did a quick headcount. "Yeah, this is everybody. Now we get that proper introduction."

I smiled and cleared my throat. "I wanted to apologize first for crashing your party. Hopefully I'll be out of here in the morning. I had car trouble and couldn't get back to town. My name is Tempest Avalon. I'm a psychology student and I'm studying the impact of folklore on the psyche for a paper."

That got Josh's attention. "Psychology?"

I shrugged. "It was either psychology or anthropology."

"Odd subjects," said Mike.

I looked at the group. "I met most of you, I think." I pointed to each I knew. "Sam and Chris, I rode the cable car up with you and I know Josh. Thanks for letting me stay the night."

Josh waved from the fireplace. He wasn't having much luck with it. "No problem."

I pointed to Jess, who was sitting on the sofa. "Jess."

She smiled.

I turned to Matt. "And Matt. Who didn't I meet yet?"

"Met the girlfriend, but didn't meet me. I'm Mike."

Ashley gave a little wave. "I'm Ashley."

"And I'm Emily."

Mike joined Jess on the sofa.

"So, Tempest Avalon," said Chris. "You gonna explain that name?"

"Yeah, my parents were Shakespeare fans," I told them. "Already had the Avalon part of the name. I'm just glad they didn't name me Juliet or Titania."

Mike sniggered. "Titania?"

I rolled my eyes. "So many bad jokes there. But they went with Tempest."

"When you say psychology, do you mean, like, being able to tell what people are like by looking at them?" asked Jess.

Emily sneered. "That's just a cheap trick."

I didn't let that get to me. This whole thing was a trick. "You're talking about behavioral analysis. A couple of us have been known to get together and have a little fun with that."

"She's not bad at it," Matt said under his breath.

"Mind giving us a demonstration?" asked Josh. "You can start with me."

I turned to him. "I don't know if that's a good idea. Sam and Chris told me what happened up here a year ago. This is a time for healing. Usually when I do this sort of thing, I rip open some old wounds."

"Then I'll do it," Chris volunteered. "I swear I won't get mad."

I laughed. "Makes me feel a little better." I clapped my hands together. "Okay, where to start? You like your electronics. You already said you were getting withdrawal from not getting your social media/game fix. But you're also good with your hands."

I heard several snickers and Chris smirked. "You've got good aim with that rifle down at the shooting range. You have a decent sense of humor, not limited to only sex jokes, thank you, universe."

"What's wrong with sex jokes?" Mike chimed in.

Jess smacked him to shut him up. She was clearly enjoying my little presentation.

"But under that, you're a decent person. You probably would help anyone in need, me included if I hadn't found Sam first. You have a deep friendship with Josh. I'm going to guess that goes back as far as elementary school, judging by how you to interact."

Chris was a bit impressed. "Is that all you got? No deep dark secrets?"

I walked over to Chris and whispered in his ear, "I was going to save Ashley the embarrassment of being put on the spot."

Chris whistled. "Okay, she's good."

"What did she tell you?" Ashley asked.

I noticed Chris blushing a little.

"Oh, he's blushing," said Sam. "It must be juicy."

"No, nothing, never mind," Chris quickly countered. "Nothing you need to know."

I smirked. "You guys already know it."

Chris squawked. "No, no! Shut up!" He reached over and covered my mouth with his hand. "Don't you dare tell them."

I responded by licking his hand.

Chris, disgusted, let go and wiped his hand on his pants.

"Oh, my god. That is so gross," I heard Emily say.

At first I thought Emily had directed that at me. But Mike and Jess had gotten bored with us and started making out on the couch. Emily took the opportunity to make a jab at them. I knew this had to happen, but I had hoped that we could have had avoided this.

Emily laughed. "Are you trying to swallow his face whole?"

"Em. . ." Matt tried to get her to stop.

Emily didn't want to hear it. "Seriously, can she be any more obvious? No one wants in on your territory, honey."

Jess got up from the sofa. "Excuse me? Did you say something?"

"Oh, did you not hear me?" asked Emily. "Was your sluttiness too loud?"

"Sounds like someone bitter she didn't make the cut," Jess taunted.

"Yeah, it's all a cattle call with that dreamboat," Emily shot back. "Congrats, you're top cow!"

"Cuts real deep calling Miss Homecoming a cow," retorted Jess.

This scene was one of the ones that stuck with me the most. It was probably because they were going at each other, but they each had their flaws that could be called out. Matt should be jumping in here soon.

"Em, come on," Matt said.

There it was.

"Shut up, Matt!" Emily snapped at him.

"Stay out of it, you dumb oaf!" Jess yelled at him.

"Hey, watch it!" Emily yelled at Jess.

"Oh!" chirped Jess. "You're the only one who can put him down? No one else can play with your toys?"

"You're such a bitch!" screamed Emily.

"Whatever," dismissed Jess. "I don't give a crap what you think."

"At least I can think," retorted Emily. "4.0, bitch, honor roll. Suck on that when you're trying to sleep your way into a job."

"Who needs grades when you got all the natural advantages you can handle," Jess boasted, motioning to herself.

I tried to keep my face neutral. I was succeeding, but I couldn't keep the image of Jacksepticeye out of my brain when he played this part. I could just hear him begging, "Stop!" I really wanted to jump and tell them both to shut up, but I didn't want to mess something up so badly now that I wouldn't be able to fix it down the road.

"Oh, please," scoffed Emily.

"You couldn't buy a moldy loaf of bread with your skanky ass," Jess told her.

Emily laughed. "Are you serious? Do you think that's insulting?"

Jess turned to Mike. "That bitch is on crack or something."

"Emily, stop!" Matt said firmly. "This is out of hand. There's no reason to fight like this."

"Yeah, Em!" Jess continued to provoke. "Why you picking fights over your ex-boyfriend?"

Screw it. "Because she didn't break it off with him, he broke it off with her!"

Everyone turned to me, all surprised to hear me yell. Emily looked downright shocked.

"What?" asked Matt. "Em, what is she talking about?"

"I don't know," Emily tried to recover. "She doesn't know what she's talking about. She's faking!"

"You are an egotistical brat," I continued, staring Emily down. "You only care about one thing and one thing only; yourself. If something goes wrong, you blame someone else, even if it is your own fault. You put people down to make yourself feel good. You're selfish. You want what you want, whether it's an object, a goal, or a person. And you're so conniving and persuasive that you can make everyone go along with your plans, no matter how wrong they are."

I looked at Mike. "More power to you. You didn't want to be pushed around and you did something about it."

I turned to Matt. "Take a page from Mike's book when you get tried to being treated like a doormat."

I looked at Jess. "Now you know. But you don't have to add fuel to the bitterness. We all have our problems."

There was complete silence for about ten seconds.

"If we can't get along for ten minutes, then maybe we need a little bit of a break," Josh said quietly. "Mike, why don't you check out the guest cabin. The one I told you about."

"Yeah," Mike said, just as quiet. He stood up and reached out for Jess's hand. "Wanna go do that?"

Jess said nothing, but took his hand.

"It's right up the trail," Josh called after them.

I just sat down in the closest chair. I shouldn't have blown up like I did. I was sure I royally screwed something up. That wasn't supposed to come out. I didn't even know if it was canon. I could have put the entire game in jeopardy because I had to open my mouth. But Emily was being a complete bitch and I couldn't just stand there and be quiet. She was my least favorite character in the entire game. She could have been great if she wasn't so whiny.

"Glad that's over," I heard Matt say. I looked up and saw Josh had gone back to working on getting the fire started up. "So, Josh, uh, can we get this fire going?"

"Where's my bag?" Emily suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Matt asked.

"My bag – the little bag with the pink pattern. The one I got on Rodeo. Matt, are you listening?" Emily stood there with her arms out like Matt should have known exactly what she was talking about. "Oh, my god, don't you remember? Next to the Italian shoe place where I got those stilettos and knocked over the rack while you were drooling all over that girl at the counter?"

"Well, I mean," stuttered Matt. "She was asking about my letter jacket."

"Right, because she gave a shit about your 'designer' jacket?" said Emily.

I could let her die. The mission was to save Josh. The message said nothing about Emily. I could let the wendigo get her. Heck, I was ready to off her myself.

"Why do you hate my jacket?" asked Matt.

"Matt, I need my bag," she deflected.

"Oh, my god! Em, maybe you just forgot it."

"Do you seriously think I'd forget my bag?"

"Well, I -."

"Do you?" Emily asked.

Matt was defeated. "Guess not."

"You must have left it down by the cable car station," said Emily.

Matt groaned.

"Come on, hon," she smoothed over. "We'll be back soon."

Matt sighed. "Then we can get warm?"

"We can get very warm," replied Emily.

"Okay. Okay, let's go."

Matt gave me a begging "save me" look as he left the room. He clearly didn't like being a doormat, but he didn't have the spine to stand up for himself. Well, that wasn't completely true. He did talk back to her, but he was too hormone charged to dump her. He clearly was her rebound and he probably knew it. I wondered if he was not that great with women that Emily took advantage of him. Maybe she was trying to make Mike jealous.

I noticed Sam standing up from her place on the stairs.

"Okay, I'm going to go take a bath," she announced before going upstairs.

"Oh, crap!" Josh suddenly said, running from the fireplace.

"What?" asked Chris.

"Forgot to give them the keys." Josh grabbed something out of his pocket and ran after Mike and Jess.

I heard him open the backdoor and call out to them.

 _Someone's fingers got caught in a bear trap. The person, a man, screamed and tried to pull away._

I had to force myself not to throw up.

"Are you okay?"

Ashley and Chris were looking at me.

"You look really pale," said Ashley.

"I'm fine, Ashley," I told her.

Josh came back inside a moment later. "Sammy!" he yelled up the stairs.

"What?" she shouted down.

"Wanna help me get this fire going?"

"Uh, well, I was getting into the bath."

"Oh!" Josh said, a little surprised. "Well, do you need help with that?"

"Hardy har!" came Sam's reply.

I got up and went over to Josh. "Josh, I'm so sorry about that," I told him. "I don't know what came over me. I'm usually collected."

"Hey. It's okay," said Josh. "It's not what I wanted. It didn't help anything. But it's okay. How did you know Mike broke it off with Emily anyway?"

"The same way I knew about Chris," I replied.

We heard Sam shout down from the bathroom again. "Okay, Josh! Let's see if you know how to hook up the hot water to your big fancy lodge!"

 _A man in a skull mask punched Ashley in the face._

"Tempest?"

"Yeah?"

It was Josh. "You look like you're going to pass out."

"I'm fine," I told him. I glanced at my red butterfly ring. It had a slight twinkle to one of the wings. "Is there something you need me to do? I can make something to eat. I'm not that great a cook, but I can manage to make grilled cheese or something."

"No, don't worry about it," said Josh. "Do you want to go lie down? You can take the couch. This is probably going to be the warmest room in the lodge once we get a fire going."

He went back to getting the fire going. "Come on."

"How long do you think it will take him?" Chris asked Ashley.

"My money is on blankets for everyone," said Ashley.

I probably could get the fire started myself. In fact. . .

"You can do it, man," Chris encouraged Josh. "We believe in you."

"Yeah! Totally!" said Ashley. "Whoo-hoo! Let's go, Jo-osh, let's go!"

I concentrated on the fireplace. It sprang to life and Josh was a bit surprised it started so fast.

With the fire started, Josh turned to Ashley and Chris. "All right, peanut gallery, you know what? I got an idea for you two?"

"What?" asked Ashley.

"Okay. Well, I'm pretty sure that somewhere in this crazy place we used to have a spirit board."

Ashley looked at him. "A what?"

"Wow, you have a spirit board?" asked Chris. "Those things are a joke, man. They don't do shit."

"No way, bro," said Josh. "We used to do it all the time. Me and -. Well -."

Sam came downstairs. "Josh, no hot water's kind of an oversight, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you just gotta fire up the boiler," said Josh. "It's in the basement."

Josh turned to Chris and Ashley. "Okay, you guys see if you can find the spirit board."

"Chris, let's go find it," said Ashley. "It'll be like a scavenger hunt."

"Um, okay," Chris said less than enthusiastic, following her. "Guess so."

"Rad, you're not going to regret it," said Josh. He turned to Sam. "Up for a ride along?"

I started to follow Josh and Sam as they turned to go to the basement. However, Josh turned around.

"Tempest, stay up here and relax," he said.

"What? I'm fine."

"I have to agree with Josh," said Sam. "I turn around and you look like you're going to be sick on us. I don't want you to collapse. It's a long way to the nearest hospital."

"I'm not sick. I can pull my weight."

"It's not about that," said Sam. "Josh and I can handle the boiler. Just stay up here and wait for Chris and Ashley to get back."

I sat down in a chair.

Sam and Josh went to the basement. I probably had about ten minutes before they came back.

I ran upstairs. Hannah's room was up here somewhere. I wanted to make sure I found all the clues I could. Maybe this could help us all, even if I was the only one to find the clues.

I found Hannah's room. She really liked butterflies. It was fitting, in a sense. I found the invite from Sam's Halloween party from last year, the invite to Mike's party and photograph, the business card with the tattoo design, her diary with all the thoughts of Mike, and the magazine clipping with the love test.

I knew she had a crush on Mike and was desperate, but seeing it in person made it worse. "You were a mess, Hannah."

I heard the others downstairs, mostly Sam yelling at Chris for scaring her. I needed to get down there quickly. I left Hannah's room and to the bathroom. I turned on the hot water and plugged the drain. I waited several moments before leaving.

Sam was coming up the stairs.

 _Jess sat up in the mine in nothing but her underwear._

Sam stopped and stared at me.

"I started filling up the bathtub for you," I told her. "Have a nice bath."

I walked passed her and downstairs. Hopefully she didn't notice that I saw another totem. My white butterfly ring had a twinkle to it. Now one of each of the totems had been found.

Josh, Chris, and Ashely decided to set the spirit board up in the upstairs library. You had to go downstairs and then back up another flight to get to it. I made my way around and joined them. It was more like a little reading area where one could look down over the railing and see what was going on in the great room.

"—'every desire to the whims of the spirit master' – which is me," Chris was reading.

"It doesn't say that," said Ashley.

"And all present will remove their garments at my sole discretion," Chris continued.

Josh sat down after lighting the candles. "Chris, come on, this is serious."

Chris laughed. "Oh, I am deadly serious," he said with faux British accent. At least I thought it was supposed to be British.

"Oh, shush it," said Ashley. "Try this."

"Yes, please," Josh begged. He looked over at me. "Care to join?"

 _Jess's body fell down the shaft. It landed at the bottom, her jaw missing._

I focused on the three people in front of me.

"Do you mind if I just watch?" I asked. "It could be awkward reaching over the table. I don't want to knock a candle over."

The three of them put their hands on the spirit board.

"Ashley, since you're a recent convert, why don't you be our medium for today?"

Ashley shrugged. "Okay. Um, is anyone there? Will you reveal yourself to us if you are there?"

They each put a finger on the pointer. It started to move.

The boys started laughing.

"Wait a minute," said Chris.

"Did you do that?" Josh asked Ashley.

"I didn't do anything," said Ashley, surprised.

"It's moving again," chuckled Chris.

"H. . ."

"What's it spelling?" asked Josh.

"Hold on," Ashley told him.

"How is this happening?" Josh was freaking out.

"Are you moving it?" Chris asked.

"I swear it's just moving!" Ashley said.

The pointer stopped.

"Oh, shit," said Josh.

"'Help'?" whimpered Ashley.

"How are we supposed to help?" Chris asked.

"I don't know! What does it mean?" Ashley asked.

"We need to know who it is if we're supposed to help them," Chris pointed out.

Ashley took a breath. "Who are you? Oh, here it goes!"

"S."

"I."

"S."

"T."

"E."

"R."

"'Sister'," said Ashley. "Sister?"

Josh paled. "Who's sister?"

"Oh, come on! Is this for real?" asked Chris, thinking this was a complete joke.

"Shut up!" Josh told him. "Ask it whose sister."

"Josh, it's gotta be –," Ashley started.

"Yeah, okay. Which sister is it then?"

Chris still thought this was a complete joke. "Ashley, ask who it is."

"Who are we speaking to?" she asked slowly. "Hannah? Is that you?"

The pointer moved to the "YES".

Chris laughed. "This is messed up."

Ashley looked at Josh. "Josh, are you –?"

"I'm fine," Josh replied.

"Are you sure?" asked Ashley. "Because we can stop."

"No," Josh insisted.

"Dude," Chris started.

"I want to hear what it says," Josh drowned out his friend.

Ashley shook her head. "I don't know where to start."

"Think about it," said Chris. "If this really is actually Hannah, I mean, we can find out what happened that night."

They looked at Josh.

"I can handle it," he said.

"Okay," said Ashley. "Let me think. Hannah? We miss you and we want to know what happened to you. Can you tell us? What happened?"

The pointer began moving again.

"B. . .E . . T. . .R. . ."

"Uh-oh," said Chris.

"I don't like this!" Ashley whimpered.

"'Betrayed'," Chris read.

"What does she mean?" Josh asked.

"It's still going," said Chris.

"Oh god!" said Ashley. "K. . .I. . .L. . .L. . .E. . .D. No!"

"'Killed!'" read Josh.

"We didn't kill them!" screamed Ashley. "It was just a prank!"

Chris was now starting to become unsettled. "Ash, calm down, okay, we need to find out more."

Ashley completely lost it now. "I'm sorry! I am so sorry!"

"Guys. Guys! What do they mean?"

Chris looked at Ashley. "Ask them what happened. It's the only way to know. Ask them, Ash!"

Ashley got herself together somewhat. "Okay. Who killed you? Hannah, who was it?"

Again the pointer moved.

"L. . .I. . .B. . ."

"The library," said Chris. "Maybe there's something in the library."

"P. . .R. . .O. . .O. . ."

"Proof!" Chris called out. "There's proof."

"In the library?" Ashley asked.

The pointer flew off the table, scaring them all.

Ashley jumped out of her chair. "Holy shit! Chris!"

Josh slowly got up. "You know what. This is bullshit. This isn't real." He backed away from the table.

"Josh, I don't know what's going on," Ashley told him.

Josh was having a breakdown. Well, he was faking a breakdown and doing a great job. "I don't know if you think messing with me is somehow going to help me deal with my grief or whatever, but this is not cool." He started to leave the room.

"Josh, no!" cried Ashley. "You wanted to use the spirit board."

"Hey, calm down," said Chris.

"I don't need this right now, okay?" shouted Josh. "You guys are full of it!" He went downstairs.

"Shit," said Ashley. "Do you think we should go after him?"

"I'll go," I volunteered.

I followed Josh downstairs. "Josh."

"I don't want to talk about it!" he snapped.

"Stop."

Josh froze. I wasn't sure if it was his own freewill or if I unintentionally made him. Sometimes it's hard to tell when my emotions are running high. And right now, even knowing that Josh was behind the spirit board episode, I was feeling everyone else in the room upstairs.

"Relax," I ordered.

He surprisingly did. "Okay. Okay."

"Breathe," I told him.

Josh took a breath and settled down.

Now I was beginning to think that I was in control of him. At the moment, that was probably fine. I wasn't sure how far into the story we were. I think we were through chapter two. That didn't matter much at the moment. If I was in control, I had to remain in control. I didn't want Josh or anyone else thinking that I was the one behind this, so I had to see the act to the end. I had to be a rock; firm and unshakeable.

"Okay. Now, do you want to tell me what happened up there?"

"What's there to tell?" asked Josh. "You saw the whole thing. Those two were screwing with me!"

"Why? Why would Chris and Ashley do this? They're your friends."

"Are they?" Josh was starting to get upset again.

I opened my mouth to say something.

 _A herd of elk, one of them was bellowing, almost in anger._

"Tempest? What's wrong?"

I had lost control over Josh and I tried to get it back. "I'm fine."

He grabbed my arm. "I've had enough of bullshit tonight."

Josh pulled me through great room, grabbing my bag as he went.

"Josh, what?"

"This is, what, the third time I caught you looking like you've seen a ghost or something," Josh snapped. "The others have been looking at you like you're about to fall over. Sam told me she thought you were going to throw up at one point."

"So?" I asked.

"So, you're going upstairs and getting some sleep," said Josh.

I blinked. "What?"

"If you're not sick, you're just not feeling well. You just need to get some sleep." Josh smiled at me. "And I do mean sleep. I don't expect you to be one of my porn stars." He chuckled. "Although, I am a little curious what you wear to bed."

I took my bag from him and rolled my eyes. "I don't think you would be too happy about it."

Josh needed me out of the way to start his little game with the others. He didn't know what to do with me, so he was making sure I was out of the way.

Josh took me up to the second floor. "You can take Hannah's room."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"She wouldn't mind," Josh said. "She would have liked you. You're smart and perceptive. Beth would have liked you, too. She was always looking out for us." He looked at the floor.

"You miss them."

He shifted his gaze to my face. "Wouldn't you miss your older sisters if they disappeared?"

"I don't have siblings," I admitted. "But I think I would miss them. That's natural for humans."

 _Sam reached the top of the ledge by the waterwheel._

"Yeah, definitely going to bed," said Josh.

"With all this weird stuff going on?" I looked meaningfully downstairs.

"It's not so bad," Josh said. "It'll be fine in the morning. Get some sleep."

Josh gave me a little push into Hannah's room.

"Josh?"

"Yeah?"

"When I start looking sick, what does it look like?" I asked.

"Well, you get really pale," said Josh. "Sometimes you look dead and other times like something really surprised you."

"Okay, thanks. I was just wondering what everyone was talking about when they say I looked sick."

"Whatever it is, it'll be all good in the morning," said Josh. "You'll be home before you know it."

"More like back to my hotel room," I told him. "I don't know when I'm going home. I have to finish my paper first."

Josh smirked. "Get changed into your pajamas. I want to make sure you're going to bed."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "You just want to see how I sleep."

Josh put his hands up.

I closed the door and found my pajamas in my bag. They were just a pair of black _Harry Potter_ Ravenclaw sweatpants and a blue shirt. I changed, tossing my other clothes in a pile.

I opened the door again. "Happy?"

Josh smirked. "Very. But I think you would look better with a Gryffindor corset top."

"Josh!" I scolded.

He took a step back with his hands up, trying not to laugh. "I'm just saying. You're a good looking girl. Wouldn't hurt to show a little skin."

"It's February! I'm not walking around in shorts and a tank top for your amusement when the heat hasn't fully kicked on in here."

"I can get you warm."

"Josh!"

"Okay, okay. Get some rest, Tempest." Josh reached forward and pulled the door closed.

I heard a small click. He had locked the door. Smart. But I was smarter. And I had a few tricks up my sleeve.

My phone chimed.

"Crap!" I hissed. I took it out and immediately put it on vibrate. The last thing I needed was it going off at a bad time. Why was it even going off in the first place?

30 MINUTE REMINDER: JESS IS TAKEN BY THE WENDIGO.

Good to know. Hopefully, Mike would move fast enough to save her.

There wasn't much to do at the moment. I couldn't warn Sam. I was locked in Hannah's room and Sam had to run from Josh. I just had to sit quietly and plan.

Sam was in the bath. She would be there for a while yet. Josh would lead her down to the theater and chase her to the basement. She may or may not escape.

Matt and Emily still weren't back yet. It doesn't take that long to go back to the cable car and get one bag. Now that I think about it, they didn't even bring the bag back in the game. They probably found someplace to do it. Really didn't want to think about that.

My phone buzzed.

1 HOUR REMINDER: CHRIS WAKES UP.

And then this would really start going downhill.

I looked at my phone. I had been getting reminders. Obviously things were preset for me to get them as the dream went on. Great! At least I had something to go on. The reminders would let me know that something was about to happen and I had some time to figure it out. I had my rings, which were basically the totems. And I had my watch, which was giving me the countdown until dawn. I had my bag full of spare clothes.

Sam would find her bag eventually. Jess was possibly going to be without clothes. I would have to keep my bag with me. I didn't want it getting lost or destroyed when I needed something out of it. Just thinking of that made me look at the battery life of my phone.

Oh, great! I had half a battery left and I would probably need to use it later as a flashlight.

I turned off all the apps I didn't need and disabled the data. I also dimmed down the brightness. That would save the battery for a little while. I went through my bag and found my phone charger. While it did, I went through the calendar to see what this dream was like. It gave me up until 2:00 a.m. before freezing and not letting my scroll further.

"As if this could be that easy."

I went looking through old text that were from days ago that shouldn't have been there. Maybe there were clues there. I had a slew of texts from an unknown number.

SAVE JOSH.

Already got that, but the question was how.

REMEMBER THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT. YOU FALL INTO THAT CATEGORY, TOO.

Again, already got that, but hopefully things haven't gone too sideways because of me.

CONTROL GROW STRONGER AS THE NIGHT GOES ON.

Correction, control worked if I can concentrate enough to be able to change something. But that was a helpful hint. Maybe I could do more towards the end, and that was provided I remembered I could do something.

Back to planning. Mike and Jess were at the cabin. In the next few minutes, the wendigo was going to take Jess. Mike needed to get to her in time, but either way he was going to believe she was dead. He was then going to go up to the sanatorium and see if he could get answers. He would meet the wolves and hopefully make friends with them, and –.

And potentially have his fingers chopped off.

I face palmed when I remembered that part. Mike was brave and smart, but those two didn't always go hand in hand. When I watched the let's plays, Markiplier and Jacksepticeye tripped the trap. I somehow needed to get Mike to avoid the trap.

On top of that, that's when Josh was chasing Sam around the lodge.

"Ugh, this is not my night. Really isn't anyone's night."

I had a few minutes. I set an alarm for 12:15. That would give me a few minutes to close my eyes before Chris woke up. I learned against the wall and closed my eyes.

* * *

 **Next chapter there's going to be a little more action and a little more interaction between the other characters and Tempest.**

 **If I haven't explained it that well in the prologue, Tempest's power fluctuates in whatever world she dreams. If there is sorcery, she can use sorcery, if there are superheroes, she can become one. That doesn't mean she's completely useless in this world except for her knowledge of the future. She can break canon, turn everyone and everything into her own little puppets, but there will be consequences and it will also take a lot of control over the dream. Subconsciously she knows what's to happen next, but her conscious mind has to override her subconscious and that takes concentration.**


	4. 3: Death: 7 Hours Until Dawn

**Okay, so this chapter isn't as long as the previous ones, but I hope it will do for you. Special thanks to all those who have favored and followed this. And special thanks to Babeee, who made the effort to message me when German is your first language. There's a little something for you in this chapter (And I seriously hope I wrote it correctly). I haven't had this big of a story since the original _Dragon Trainer, Dragon Speaker_. As always, leave a review or PM me if you get the chance.**

* * *

 _A gray butterfly sat against a black background, its wings spread._ _Three of the quadrants were blacked out. The base of the gray quadrant began to glow, a white light moving up the vein. It reached a branch in the vein before choosing which way to continue. The path not taken turned black. The same continued to happen at the next branch. When it reached the end, the vein looked like a path in the dark._

 _White pulses went through the wings, lighting up the veins. Many paths. Many choices. Many opportunities. Many outcomes._

 _The wolf pack moved about the sanatorium. They were the guards, protecting the mountain from the Wendigo, making sure they were contained. There was little they could do against a Wendigo, but they could chase the trespassers away. They stayed away from the Wendigo kept secured in cells. Their screams and shrieks could be heard from the lower levels._

 _The wolves went looking for Stranger, greeting him as he returned. They were safe and the Wendigo were still in their cages. There had been no trespassers since Stranger left._

"Ich bin frei! Endlich frei! Und ich fühl mich wie neu geboren!"

I gasped awake. I wasn't expecting my phone to start playing the German version of "Let It Go". I quickly shut it off and checked the time. 12:15. Perfect. That gave me a thirty minute nap.

"Ugh, I hate dreams within dreams," I grumbled.

I looked at my yellow butterfly ring. All four wings had a slight twinkle to them.

"And apparently someone picked up a totem while I was sleeping," I added.

I focused on the new twinkle.

 _Mike knelt down and petted a wolf._

That explained the wolf dream in a way.

Chris would be waking up soon. He would go after Ashley and Josh. Emily and Matt would come back after Josh was "murdered" and then they would go to the tower. Ashley and Chris would come back here. Sam would be chased by Josh into the basement where she would either get away or be captured.

Now where did I want to be during all of this? I could probably do the most good with Chris and Ashley. Now I just needed to get out of here.

I pulled my boots on and got a few of Hannah's hairpins and started trying to pick the lock. Minutes ticked by and there was a lot of muttering on my end. I couldn't get the lock to go. I kept checking the time. Chris would be waking up soon.

I messed up again and groaned.

"Oh, screw this!" I said.

I threw down the hairpins and closed my eyes. I focused on the lock.

Click!

"Yes!" I yanked the door open and all but ran downstairs.

"Ashley!" I heard Chris yell. "Ash? Ash!"

He was in the kitchen. I ran around to the kitchen door.

"Chris!"

Chris blinded me with the flashlight he was holding. "Tempest?"

I shielded my eyes. "Lower that before you blind me! What's going on?"

Chris lowered the light. "You didn't hear that?"

"Hear what? Josh took me upstairs and told me to get some sleep. Apparently I looked like I was going to be sick again. I just woke up a few minutes ago. I couldn't stay asleep."

"Some psycho in a mask took Ashley and Josh," Chris explained. "He knocked me out. I just woke up. I don't know where they are."

"We'll find them," I told him. "How long ago was this?"

"I don't know," Chris replied.

I looked at my watch. "It's quarter 'til one. When's the last time you looked at a clock?"

"I don't know. It couldn't have been long after Josh took you upstairs," said Chris.

"So ninety minutes? I'm being generous with time. The guy wouldn't have been able to get far with both of them."

Chris reached into his pocket. "And I found this."

It was Ashley's coin purse and it had blood on it.

"It's not a lot," I said. "She could be fine. But we gotta move."

"He probably took them out the back," said Chris. "The kitchen door's the closest."

"Then what are we waiting for?" I asked.

Chris went to the kitchen and opened the door leading to the back mudroom. A raven flew out through the opened backdoor. "What the fuck?"

There was blood on the wall in front of us.

"Aw, shit! No!" cried Chris.

I looked at the blood on the wall. There was arterial spray and high velocity spatter overlapping.

"Whoever this guy is, he's trying to get a rise out of us," I told Chris.

"What?"

I stepped away from the blood. "Take a look. Spatter and spray and they don't match. He would've have to be meticulous, if not OCD. These line up too perfectly. Someone would have had to have been shot and then had their throat cut and have to have their heart still beating. And even if that wasn't the case and he killed one and then the other, this is all blood. There would be more if someone had been shot. This guy's messing with us."

Chris stared at me. "I thought you were learning to be a psychologist."

"I am. I've watched enough _CSI_ to know a little something about crime scenes," I told him with a shrug.

"Good to know," said Chris, hardly reassured. He looked at the opened backdoor. "You better get a coat."

I grabbed a throw blanket off the back of a chair. "Good enough. Let's go."

Chris led the way with his flashlight. I followed behind him with the blanket wrapped around my shoulders. I probably should have taken the time to change back into my winter clothes before trying to pick the lock on the door. Too late now.

The trail led away from the lodge and branched in two different directions. A couple ravens called out and flew to the left path.

Chris looked from one path to another. "Which way?"

"Ravens are scavengers," I said. "They're flying low. I think they found something to eat."

"So the birds found some berries," Chris grumbled. "What about it?"

I blinked at him. "You didn't study wildlife in school, did you?"

"I had biology," Chris replied. "I was decent at it. Why?"

"Circle of life," I said slowly. "What wolves and bears don't eat. . ."

Chris turned to me, horrified.

I gave him a nod. "When I said scavengers, I meant those scavengers."

"You don't think . . . ?"

"Chris, you asked. I'm just giving you information you can use to decide."

Chris groaned. He looked at both paths before choosing the left.

About halfway down, something sprang up from the ground.

Chris jumped back. "What in the hell? Who would do this?"

"What is it?"

I peered around Chris. It was some sort of scarecrow. There was blood smeared all over its clothes. Part of it looked like it was made out of a trash bag. The head looked like a traditional scarecrow, only with no face stitched onto the burlap. Part of the burlap face was torn away at the bottom to reveal a mummified face.

"I hope that's fake," I said, referring to the face.

"You're the forensics expert." Chris stepped around the scarecrow, watching it carefully to see if it would move.

I continued to examine it. The blood didn't look real. It was too bold. Scent told me that it was paint. The face was just foam and rubber. It was just a movie prop. It was a creepy looking thing, but it couldn't hurt us.

"Aw, shit!" I heard Chris say.

"What?"

"It's a head," Chris answered.

"A what?" I hurried around to him. Off to the side of the path was a pig's head. I had forgotten about that. "Now we know what the ravens were after."

Something else caught Chris's eye. It was a totem. He picked it up.

 _His feet kicked in the air as something held him. There was screeching and it echoed like it was in a cavern._

Death totem. And one of the cleaner visions at that.

Chris put the totem down. "I don't think there's anything else down this way," he said with a shaky voice.

"Agreed."

We backtracked and took the right path.

"Do you know where this leads?" I asked him.

"Look!" He pointed ahead. "There's a shed. Maybe that's where he took them."

I grabbed Chris's shoulder. "Check around back first."

"Why?" asked Chris.

"I don't want this guy getting away out the back," I told him. "And we might be able to get in without him knowing."

"Okay," said Chris.

We walked around the back. There weren't any windows that we could see through and no backdoor on that side of the shed. I was checking the walls while Chris checked the end of the path.

 _A body landed on the ground. Ashley's head followed._

"Oh, my god!"

I jumped and whirled around. Chris dropped the totem like it had burned him.

"What?" I asked.

Chris covered his mouth, taking a step back from the totem. "Oh, my god! Holy shit!"

"What?" I asked a little louder this time. "Chris, what's wrong?"

"We need to find Ashley," Chris said hurriedly. "We need to find her now!"

"That's what we're doing, aren't we?"

Chris went to run passed me. I grabbed him by the arm and pulled. The force turned him around to face me.

"Chris. What is going on?"

He hesitated. "I don't think you'll believe me."

I crossed my arms. "Try me."

Chris swallowed. "When I picked up that totem thing, I saw Ashley. Something ripped her head off."

"O-kay."

"And then earlier, when I was going to unlock the door, I found one in the basement. I saw a burned body. I think it was Emily. And then there was the one I picked up a few minutes ago. I saw someone's feet kicking in the air. Something had a hold of him and I think it was killing him."

I didn't blame him for freaking out. No one mentioned the totems to each other in the game. My thought was that it was either they thought they were being paranoid, no one would believe them, or they weren't really seeing anything at all, only the player.

"Tempest, am I going crazy?" Chris asked.

I sighed. "Chris, I don't think you're the only one to be seeing things. Sam picked up a totem when we first got here. She told me she saw something."

"What did she see?" Chris asked.

"She saw a bird on a picnic table," I answered.

Chris threw his hands up. "Great! She gets to see cute little birds and I see my friends dying!"

"Chris, focus!"

Chris took a deep breath. "I'm okay."

"None of this is okay," I said. "It's okay not to be okay. Now, let's find Ashley and Josh."

We made our way back to the front of the shed. The door was already ajar.

Chris pushed the door the rest of the way open. "Wishing I had that rifle with me."

I nodded in agreement.

Was I nervous? Yes. But I wasn't really afraid. I knew Josh wasn't going to do anything else besides scare the living hell out of Chris and Ashley. Chris just had to make a choice.

The place was a bit of a mess, but there was a clear path. Much of the stuff was stacked up or covered in tarps. Someone could easily hide in here and we would've walked right passed them.

"Geez, this place is bigger on the inside," I whispered to him.

"Ashley!" Chris called.

"Chris!" came a muffled response.

"Ash, I'm here! Where are you?"

"I don't know!" called Ashley.

We continued to work our way to the back of the building, Chris talking to her while we did. "Are you okay? What the hell happened?"

"Please, help me!" Ashley cried.

"I'm coming, Ash." Chris looked behind at me. "Tempest, can you tell where she is?"

"We're heading in the right direction. She sounds louder over here."

We went around a corner and a light switched on. There was another room, separated from where we stood by a large window that was reinforced with metal lattice. On the opposite side was Ashley and Josh. They were hanging by their wrists, their backs against a board. In front of them was an industrial sized circular sawblade on a track.

Ashley was moving around a little bit, but Josh was "out cold".

"Chris? Are you there?" Ashley called again.

"Hello," came a distorted voice, "and thank you all for joining me."

Ashley started screaming at Josh to wake up.

Josh "woke up" and started looking around.

"Tonight, we're going to conduct a little experiment," the voice continued. "A sort of test."

"Tempest!" Chris called to me. He was trying to force the door to the room open.

I ran over to help.

"It's locked," he said.

"Well, no shit!"

"What the hell's going on?" yelled Josh. "Ashley?"

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know," cried Ashley.

Chris and I were still working on the door. He gave it up and stepped back to see what was happening on the other side of the lattice.

"Now for this experiment, we need the cooperation of our two test subjects," the voice continued, "Joshua and Ashley."

"What?" Ashley squeaked.

"Oh, my god!" Josh realized, looking at the sawblade.

I threw my weight against the door, but it didn't give. It barely even rattled. The door opened by itself in the game after Josh "died", so how was it staying shut so well?

"But we're going to need one more brave participant to help decide," said the voice, "which subject will live, and which will die."

I looked up at the speaker.

Ashley burst into hysterics, begging Chris to get her out of there. Josh was doing the same thing, but he was yelling at the voice on the speaker.

"Please, everyone, calm down," the voice placated. "It's all very simple. Christopher, you'll find a lever placed directly in front of you. All you have to do is chose who you will save."

Chris looked at the lever. There was a picture of Ashley on the left and a picture of Josh on the right.

The sawblade started up.

"Oh, this can't be happening," sobbed Ashley. "This can't be happening."

Josh was trying to get her to calm down. "It's gonna be okay. It's going to be okay. Dude. . . Buddy . . . just think about this for a minute!" he yelled to Chris.

Ashley's voice shrieked over everything. "Chris, you can't let me die!"

Chris put his head in his hands. "Just give me a second. I can't think straight." He stared at the lever. "Tempest?"

I looked at Chris. "I can't make the choice for you," I told him quietly.

"Oh, crap," he said repeatedly.

Chris couldn't look at his friends' terrified faces. Instead he looked at the photos by the lever. "Sorry, Ash." He said it quietly, but I heard him over the sound of the chaos.

He chose to save Josh? He chose to save Josh! What was going to happen? None of the let's plays I watched had Chris saving Josh. They always saved Ashley. Talk about bros before hoes! Josh would always live. It was all a set up. But that sawblade was real! It could cut! Ashley could really be killed here.

Chris pulled the lever and pulled it over to Josh's photo, choosing to save his friend.

The sawblade began to move. In Josh's direction.

"Oh, thank you," I breathed.

"Ah, I see," said the voice. "You have chosen to save Ashley."

"No, this is a mistake!" shouted Chris.

"I thought we were friends!" Josh shouted at Chris. "Why would you do this?"

Chris was shouting at the voice. "Please, stop this! This is madness!"

I couldn't watch. I turned my back and closed my eyes.

Josh screamed in pain and everything went quiet except for the saw.

"Don't look, Ashley!" Chris called to her.

"Why can't I look?" she demanded. "Chris, please tell me he's okay! Please!"

The door opened for us to get to Ashley.

Chris ran in. "I'm coming, Ash. I'm going to get you down."

I turned to the scene. There was blood everywhere and half of "Josh" was on the floor under the still running sawblade. I was numb as I walked into the room. It wasn't because of the gore, but because of the choice Chris made.

There was always a choice. And when there was a choice, there was always danger of making a mistake. Chris had chosen to sacrifice his potential girlfriend for his best friend who he had known since elementary school. It made me wonder what I would do in that situation.

Chris got Ashley down. She turned around and caught sight of Josh. "No!" she screamed.

Chris shushed her and covered her eyes. "We gotta go, okay?" He kept her eyes covered and led her out of the shed.

"You are a devious bastard," I said, loud enough to be heard over the saw.

There was no time to stand around. I had to catch up to Chris and Ashley.

I caught up to them stumbling down the trail. Ashley wasn't crying, but she wasn't quiet either. I couldn't tell about Chris since his back was to me. I moved to Ashley's other side and took her arm. Now I saw that Chris was crying as well.

"Just keep moving," I told them, not caring that I was getting blood on me. "One foot in front of the other."

"Did that just happen?" Ashley whimpered.

"It did," I told her bluntly.

She let out a wail.

Chris looked up at me and glared. I doubt he could see me clearly through his tears. His glasses were steaming up as well.

"Chris! Ashley! Tempest!"

I looked up and saw Matt, who was yelling, and Emily. They were running over to us.

"Blood," whispered Emily. "Whose blood is that, Ash?"

"Are you okay?" Matt asked.

"Chris, what happened?" demanded Emily.

"Josh," Chris managed to get out.

"Josh what, dude?" asked Matt, trying to get more information out of him.

"He's dead," sobbed Chris. "He died right in front of us, man."

"What are you talking about?" Emily asked.

"There's a maniac," Chris rambled on.

"Maniac?" repeated Matt.

"Oh, my god," said Emily. "We gotta get out of here."

"I don't understand. What happened?" Matt demanded.

"There was a saw," Chris went on. "It was either him or Ashley. I didn't know what to do!"

"Oh god!" Ashley sobbed.

"Cut right through him – and spilling out fucking everywhere!"

"What?" cried Emily. "Oh, my god, Chris! What?"

"I killed him!" Chris finally admitted.

Ashley curled up on the ground sobbing.

I put the blanket around her. "Ashley, you need to breathe."

Chris was still going on. "It was my fault, Matt."

"No," said Emily. "No, this is insane. We need to go get some help."

"Cut right in half," babbled Chris.

"We're going to figure this out," Matt told us.

Emily turned to her boyfriend. "Matt, we need to go get help now."

I moved so I was standing in front of Ashley and Chris. "You two need to get a grip."

"Easy for you to say!" snapped Chris. "You didn't just kill your best friend. I looked to you for help, but you washed your hands clean of it!"

"Chris!" The sound of my raised voice made him flinch. It also snapped Ashley out of her hysteria. "Losing it is only hurting yourself. I don't want either of you going into shock out here in the snow. And especially with this psychopath wandering around. Now get yourselves under control!"

Chris and Ashley said nothing, but tried to get their sobbing under control.

"Chris, Emily's right," Matt said. "Who knows who'll be next? We just gotta go."

"Yeah, yeah, it's the only sane thing to do," Emily insisted. "We'll go get help -."

Chris glared at her. "No, you just want to save yourself."

"No, I just don't want to make any hasty decisions that get everyone killed," Emily said. "You can get everyone else together and I'll go get help." She turned to Matt. "With Matt. Right?"

Matt seemed a little unsure. "Okay."

"Good idea," I said. "Just one problem: How? There is no cell reception up here."

"The cable car," said Emily. "We can take it to the bottom and get to the bus stop."

"Emily, it's the middle of the night," I said. "It's snowing. Who's going to be on the road? You'd have to walk to town or . . ."

 _Matt was standing outside of a door. The door was locked judging by the pounding on it by something large. There was screeching._

I shook my head. At least there was a little bit of good news in this. My white butterfly was twinkling.

"Or what?" asked Emily.

"My car," I said. "My car is about mile from the bus stop, heading into town. I have winter supplies in the trunk; a shovel and cat litter. You can dig it out if it's buried."

"That's great!" said Matt. "But didn't your car break down?"

"I wouldn't drive it unless it was a complete emergency," I answered. "This is a complete emergency."

"So where are the keys?" asked Emily.

"Back at the lodge," I replied.

"We don't have time!" whined Emily.

"Listen," I told them. "On the front driver's side of the car, attached to the metal frame, is one of those crazy strong magnet boxes. There's a spare key."

"Okay," said Emily. "Let's go, Matt."

I turned back to Chris. "You're probably right about Emily. But you're forgetting something. Sam's back at the lodge and we have to find Mike and Jess."

"Right," said Chris. "You're right."

I put my hand out to Ashley. "Time to go," I said softly.

Ashley took my hand and I pulled her to her feet. The three of us ran back to the lodge. More like stumbled. Ashley couldn't seem to get her feet under her and Chris would trip when she would. I seemed to be the only one who could stay one their feet.

"You're okay," I said, pulling Ashley to her feet again. "It's okay. Chris?"

"I'm fine."

I nodded.

We took five steps before Chris all but jumped off the path to throw up.

"Chris!" called Ashley.

I let go of Ashley and went to Chris's side. He was puking up his dinner and anything else in his stomach.

"Is he okay?" Ashley asked me.

I rubbed Chris's back. "Cough it up," I told him. "Just let it come up."

"Chris?" Ashley called.

I looked over my shoulder. "He's fine, Ashley."

Ashley cringed at the sound of Chris throwing up. She then ran and claimed a tree for herself.

Lovely.

 _Matt fell from the cliff and hit the rocks._

My turn. I grabbed a tree for support and joined the other two.

* * *

 **For those who missed it, the German lyrics were to Disney's Frozen. Felt the song was somewhat appropriate in a strange and twisted way. The German was for Babeee. Thanks again.**


	5. 4: Sanguine: 6 Hours Until Dawn

**I know this chapter is seriously late and thus has set all my other chapters back. I didn't set this story aside to do other things, oh, no. I have spent the last** **four days** **editing, rewriting, and editing again. I am finally happy with this chapter. I was not going to post the piece of crap of a chapter I had on Friday. It was just not happening. I have enough love for my readers that if I'm going to do a job/post, then by golly I'm going to do it right.**

 **Now while I was working on this chapter, I am aware that I may have gotten some time stamps mixed up. I swear I looked high and low for them, but I couldn't find all of them. To avoid spoilers for the chapter, I'll finish this note at the end of the chapter. But for now, please enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

The rest of the walk back to the lodge was quiet, as it should have been. Chris and Ashley managed to get themselves together. They were getting focused on finding Sam. I was trying to think of worst case scenarios.

Chris had chosen Josh. What did that mean in the future? Or the past? Was Chris now in danger of being killed by the Wendigo because Ashley was going to lock him out of the lodge? That wouldn't happen as long as I was there, but I didn't know where I was going to be in a couple hours. And I was sure Ashley hadn't heard Chris when he said he was choosing Josh. As long as she didn't find out, I figured Chris was safe. He just had to "shoot" himself when the time came.

And what about Jess and Mike? There was a chance Jess was already dead, that was a given in the game. But what about Mike? Could something have happened to Mike that he and Jess were both dead? It was possible. Mike did have to run after Jess and there were some obstacles that could spell certain doom for both of them, him either taking too long or falling to his death. Or the Wendigo could have chosen to kill them right then and there and not even go to the mines to do it.

But what about the totem of Matt escaping the mines? Mike was the one who originally picked that totem up. Was he alive and he picked it up? Or was I simply seeing the totems when they were originally found in the game?

This was turning into a mess! I needed to fix things and soon before it was too late. There was a chance it was too late now. With things as they were, I could fix them, but it would take a lot of work. I couldn't worry about Mike and Jess at the moment. But Chris and Ashley were here and I could worry about them.

We made it the rest of the way back to the lodge. I was the last one in and I closed and locked the kitchen door behind me. The soiled blanket found its way tossed off on the floor.

"What now?" Ashley asked.

"We get Sam," stated Chris.

I walked around the counter and took a kitchen knife out of the knife block. If everything stayed on track, there was a chance I wouldn't need it, but I wanted to be safe.

When I turned around, Chris and Ashley were staring at me.

"What?" I asked.

"What are you doing with that?" Ashley asked slowly, looking at the knife.

"If this psychopath thinks he can mess with us without a fight, he's got another thing coming." I gave the knife a little wave.

Chris gave a nervous smile. "That's kinda badass."

"That's stupid!" Ashley cried. "This homicidal maniac's already killed Josh! What makes you think you can fight him?"

"Because now we know he's here," I replied calmly. "He doesn't have the element of surprise anymore. But he's smart, so watch out."

"Smart?" asked Ashley. "He's crazy!"

"Well, he's smart enough to take out Josh," I told her. "Josh knew this mountain. He could have possibly gotten us off the mountain with little trouble."

"So, who he'll go after next?" Ashley asked.

I put my arms out to my sides. "I'm not psychic, Ashley. I'm only pointing things out. Take them how you want to."

I went into the great room with Chris and Ashley following close behind me.

"What are those?" Chris asked.

We stopped and looked at the stairs. Tied to the banisters were balloons with arrows painted on the sides, pointing downstairs to the lower level.

"Should we follow the arrows?" asked Ashley.

"We should find Sam," said Chris.

"Maybe she put them there for us to follow," Ashley suggested.

"Really?" I deadpanned. "She took the time to find balloons to leave as markers?"

Chris came to her defense. "Hey, she was only trying to help."

I shook my head.

A humming noise caught my attention.

Really, of all the things to say, Ashley had to say that Sam put the balloons there for us to follow. Sam was running for her life and she chose to take the time to set up balloons? Really?

The humming got louder.

"What is that?" I asked.

"What?" asked Chris.

I frowned. "You don't hear that hum?"

"No," Chris answered slowly. "Ash, do you hear anything?"

Ashley shook her head.

I rubbed at my ears. There was a pressure in them. The hum wouldn't go away and the pressure was getting worse.

"Ow," I muttered.

"What's wrong?" asked Ashley.

"My ears."

That was all the further I got. It felt like something slammed into the back of my head. The humming drowned out everything else. I could hear Chris and Ashley, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. Everything went black.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, I was sitting in a stuffed chair. In front of me was a desk with chair on the other side. A name plate sat on the desk: Dr. A.J. Hill.

"Hello."

I looked up. Standing by the boarded up window was a man in a white shirt, dark tie, gray sweater vest, and slacks. He had short hair and a receding hairline. He sat down in the other chair and propped his feet up on the desk.

"Things are getting pretty tense out there, aren't they?" asked Dr. Hill. "Is the night going the way you hoped it would?"

Was I myself? Or was I in Josh's mind?

He stared at me, looking for an answer. "Well?"

I tipped my head and shrugged, glancing at my hands. The five butterfly rings were there. I was me. "It could be worse," I answered quietly.

"Yes, it could be," said Dr. Hill. "So, what's your next move?"

"Get everything back on track. That's all I need to do. Keep it on track and we'll get out of here together."

"You think so?" asked Dr. Hill. "Did you forget? Everything you do, everything you say, changes something."

"Everything that's happened so far could have happen," I argued.

"Really? The squirrel and the shooting range? The bird on the picnic table?"

"Those were their decisions," I said.

"That's where you're wrong." Dr. Hill jumped up and slammed his hands on the desk, leaning over to me. "You're not supposed to be here! You have no part in this game! You have influenced them, indirectly and directly. And thanks to you, things are going to start going the way you don't want them. A tiny butterfly flapping its wings today may lead to a devastating hurricane weeks from now."

I let out a growl of aggravation. I knew that! I had been trying to keep everything on track. I knew I screwed up one or two things, but I could fix those before things were too late.

Dr. Hill went to the window again. "Do you really think that the little things are going to stay so little? A breeze now, but a storm later." He looked over his shoulder at me. "Isn't that right, Tempest?"

I stiffened.

Dr. Hill walked back to his desk. "Do you understand now? You were never a breeze. You were a full blown hurricane from the start. You even named yourself that! The question now is: how much damage will the tempest do? Every storm has its storm damage."

"I never planned on getting all of us out of here unscathed," I said.

"At least you're realistic," smirked Dr. Hill. "An odd thing to say about you and the situation. So how do you plan on getting off the mountain?"

"I just have to make the necessary changes when the choices come up."

Dr. Hill smiled. "But is it really that simple? If you follow the storyline, how do you plan on saving Josh?"

"Like I said."

"But actual choices? Or using your powers to influence?"

"By my choices," I told him.

Dr. Hill sat back in his chair. "Really? Like you did with Jessica and the bird? She just made that choice?"

He had a point there. I had directly used my powers on Jess.

Dr. Hill picked up his notepad and scribbled something down. "And what about Emily? I think we can both agree that she was being a bitch. So why did you say something about it, knowing how the situation was already going to end?"

"I can only deal with so much whining," I told him. "And she's useless. She stands around and complains that she has a broken nail and not giving a crap about the guy next to her having an actual crisis. Her friends weren't going to call her out about it, so I did."

Dr. Hill wrote as I spoke. "And Chris? You didn't seem to have a problem with him."

"I didn't until he decided to sacrifice Ashley," I said.

"And why is that?" Dr. Hill inquired. "Was it because he went against your preconception?"

"Who kills their girlfriend?" I asked. "There wasn't money or jealousy involved. Josh has been acting sketchy. Chris is his best friend. Didn't he notice something?"

"Ah, but you're forgetting something," said Dr. Hill. "You look at this with omnipotence. You can see that Josh was acting suspicious. But Chris, who is hoping that his friend is coping with his sisters' disappearance? He probably thinks that Josh is moving passed that. The only other person who would have noticed something and may have caught it was Sam. But she wasn't there in the shed."

Dr. Hill leaned forward and rested his arms on the desk, putting the notepad aside. "Do you blame Sam for not doing anything? For relaxing in the bath, listening to classical music?"

"How could she have known?" I asked. "She couldn't hear us. No, I don't blame her."

Dr. Hill folded his hands. "So what are your feelings on the others? Be honest."

"To sum it up?" I asked. "I already said Emily's a narcissist. Sam's got a good head on her shoulders. Chris is logical, but has a few things he has to work out, including his relationship with Ashley, or perhaps lack thereof. Matt's a doormat. He'll let Emily walk all over him and then some before he gets enough of a spine to do something about it. Kinda sad. He seems like a nice enough guy. He deserves better. As for Mike, I think he'd be okay if he laid off the sex jokes and the party attitude. There is such thing as too much partying. Being class president will help him go far in college. Either that or his party ways will send him right to the frat house. Ashley; I think she'll believe anything you tell her. She's gullible like that. Although I'm a little worried about her intelligence or maybe it's how she jumps to conclusions so quick. She's easily excited. That may get her killed where this night is going. Jess is insecure. I guess that's because she may know deep down that she's the rebound girl for Mike. Maybe she's afraid that he and Emily will get back together. Or maybe it's some other issue I don't know about."

"Something you don't know about?" Dr. Hill smirked. "I thought you did your research before you started dreaming."

I glared at Dr. Hill. "I do, but I don't know everything."

He dropped his smirk. "And Josh?"

"He needs closure more than anything," I answered.

Dr. Hill straightened in his chair. "Closure? You don't think he needs help? He is off his meds and has been known to have delusions. All you have to say is that he needs closure?"

"I didn't say that he needed help or medication," I pointed out. "He needs help, but I think he needs closure a bit more. He can start getting better from there."

"Good answer," said Dr. Hill. "But do you think Josh is to blame?"

I shook my head. "We all have a hand in this. The 'prank' started it all, Josh perpetuated it by calling all his friends back here, and I inserted myself into their lives. There is equal blame all around in some way or one could say there is no one to blame."

"Ah, but no one to blame means no one was responsible," Dr. Hill put in. "And there are plenty of people who are responsible for this on this mountain. Now, what are you going to do about it?"

"What can I do about it?" I asked. "My mission is to save Josh."

Dr. Hill simply nodded. "Now that that's out of the way, tell me, what do you think about the timeline here?"

I frowned in confusion. "The timeline?"

"It seems specific, doesn't it? When you were researching, didn't you notice how each event happens in a certain time frame?"

"As in the chapters?"

"Yes."

I shrugged. "I noticed timing is everything. It gives me an idea of what to plan for next."

Dr. Hill hummed. "I'm glad you have such faith in time. For some it's only an illusion."

A clock chimed.

"How's that for timing?" Dr. Hill smirked. "We seem to be out of time. But something to think about before you go: if you keep to the storyline, how will you be able to save Josh? Oh, and another thing; you may want to check on Mike."

So Mike was alive!

The bear trap!

I closed my eyes and focused in on Mike.

I could see Mike looking at the moving bait, the arm banging against the wood with each movement. He reached up to examine the tag that fluttered behind each movement.

It's a trap. Don't touch it. It's a trap. Don't touch it.

Mike pulled his hand away and stepped back. He took the machete he found earlier and poked the hand with it. The arm went flying and the trap snapped up. The machete was knocked out of Mike's hand and ended up on the other side of the room.

"Whoa, shit!" Mike jumped away from the trap. "I could have lost my hand in that."

I let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

"Tempest!"

"Tempest, wake up!"

I opened my eyes. I was on the floor looking up at Ashley and Chris. "What happened?"

"You passed out," Chris explained.

"Are you okay?" asked Ashley.

I sat up. "Yeah, I feel fine. My ears aren't humming anymore."

"Scared the hell out of us," Chris told me.

"Wasn't trying to." I got to my feet. "How long was I out?"

"Uh, about a minute," replied Chris.

I looked at my watch. We hadn't even been back for five minutes! Not only that, but my brown butterfly had another twinkle to its wings.

 _Matt's face was smashed in by a Wendigo._

I was startled by the vision, mostly because I didn't think I was focusing on it enough to trigger the replay.

Chris and Ashley grabbed my arms thinking I was going to fall down again.

"I'm fine," I told them. "We need to find Sam."

"I'll check upstairs," said Chris. "Ashley, Tempest, you stay down here and check the first floor."

"Uh, no," I said. "I'm going upstairs and changing clothes. I'm not running around in my pajamas all night."

"But what about me?" asked Ashley.

I picked up the knife I had dropped and handed it to her. "Pointy end goes in the bad guy."

Ashley frowned. "I know how to use a knife."

"Good," I snapped. "Because by the end of the night, you may need to defend yourself."

Ashley cringed at my tone, but I didn't care at the moment.

Chris and I went upstairs.

"You didn't need to yell at her," said Chris. "She's scared."

"We're all scared, Chris," I snapped. "But there's scared and then there's stupid."

"That's still no excuse to yell at her," Chris fired back.

I sighed. "I know. Look, I'm not trying to be a bitch. I just process things differently."

"I'll certainly say," said Chris. "You took what happened out there well."

"'Well' is not how I would describe it," I laughed.

"Then what would you call it?" Chris inquired.

"Setting aside your emotions. Panicking isn't going to solve anything. You just have to figure out how to get out of the situation. Ashley cried and screamed, but I didn't hear her coming up with an idea of what to do next. That was you and me. She needs to learn not to get so panicked that she can't think about what to next."

"No time like the present," said Chris.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have chosen tonight to teach her," I added. "And what about you?"

"Me?"

"Do you want to explain your choice? I heard you back there in the shed."

Chris winced. "I can explain."

"I sure hope so." I crossed my arms.

"I didn't know who to choose, okay? I just wanted it to be over."

I let my arms fall to my sides. "So why save Josh?"

"Josh is my best friend," Chris replied. "We've known each other for so long. It's hard thinking about life without him. And Ashley, I had a life before her. Don't take it the wrong way, I do like her, but I can see myself without her. And the way things are going right now, I might as well live my life without her."

I frowned. "Why do you say that?"

"I just don't think we'll be able to work it out," Chris replied.

"What?" I ended squeaking so my voice didn't get too loud to alert Ashley. "What are you talking about? You two look great together. All that needs to happen is for one or both of you to admit that you like each other."

"You make it sound so easy," said Chris.

"The worst she's going to say is 'no'. Relax, Chris. But you may want to tell her in the near future."

I went back up to Hannah's room to get changed. I got my pajamas off and tucked them up to put back in my bag without getting blood on everything else. I was just about to put them in my bag when I thought about it. I didn't need them. I threw them on the floor instead.

 _Emily handed the flare gun to Matt._

I started pulling on the clothes I wore earlier.

 _Mike took out a lighter and flicked it on. Everything was engulfed in flames._

I sighed. Rather this happen now than when I had to run from the Wendigo.

I thought back to what Dr. Hill said. If I stay with the original storyline, we were going to lose Josh to the Wendigo. So what was I going to do? What could I change that would keep everyone alive?

First off, Josh had to come back to the lodge with us. I already knew that and I had already planned to make sure that happened. Now I definitely needed that to happen. I would use my influence on everyone if I needed to. That would take a lot out of me, but it would be worth it later.

Second, Matt and Jess. It was possible for them to both die in the mines. There was a chance that Jess was already dead. Hopefully Mike stuck to his personality and hustled to the mines to get her. Hopefully. That was becoming the word of the night now. Hopefully everything goes according to plan.

I was pulling on my jacket when I looked at the bed. I hadn't been paying attention to the room so much because I knew Josh wasn't in the lodge at the moment. So I hadn't noticed the bouquet of black roses on the pillow.

I examined the flowers. They were fabric, a bit crumpled from being in storage. They must have been a last minute addition to Josh's theatrical set up.

"Oh, geez," I muttered.

 _Ashley opened a door and Chris came charging in, slamming it behind him._

I finished getting changed and took my bag to the bathroom. There was plenty of first aid supplies in the bathroom. Maybe Josh had thought to stock up while he was setting everything up. On a mountain by yourself with the nearest hospital who knew how many miles away, you needed to have something along the lines of medical supplies. And while I was certain that Josh was doing this as one big prank and never intended to hurt anyone, he came prepared for worst case scenario emergencies. Josh may have been off his meds, but it seemed that he thought most of this through.

There were rolls of bandages, packs of gauze, antiseptic, and even a suture kit. I stuffed my bag with as much as I dared to carry. I didn't want my bag too heavy or too bulky to move around with.

"What are you doing?" Chris was standing in the doorway.

"Getting first aid supplies," I answered. "I have a feeling we'll need them at some point."

Chris touched the bump on his head. "That's probably a good idea," he winced.

"How does it feel?" I asked.

"Sore," Chris replied. "I feel fine, all things considered."

"I'd give you an ice pack, but I don't think we have time for it," I said.

Chris shook his head. "We need to keep moving." He looked at the tub. "What do you think? Do you think she was attacked here?"

I looked around the tub. "Doubtful. Candles are mostly lit and there's not a lot of water on the floor. Her music player is still here, but she could have forgotten it. My guess is that she got out of the tub on her own."

"Got dressed, too," Chris added. "Her clothes are gone."

"She may be looking for us," I said.

"Or the maniac got her," said Chris.

I looked at my bag. "You do one more sweep up here. I want to be sure she's not up here before we leave and look somewhere else. I'll finish packing the supplies."

Chris nodded and left to do one more search of the upper floor.

I had everything mostly packed. I wanted Chris to leave so I could look at my phone. It was almost 2:00, the time where all my alerts stopped. I might now be able to see the alerts for what comes after. I could use every cheat I could get.

I opened up my calendar app and went to the alerts. There were about twenty alerts!

"Yes!" I cheered quietly. "Now what to do next?"

0:12 – JESS HAS JAW RIPPED OFF.

"What the heck? I never got that reminder!" I whisper shouted. "So much for getting all of us out."

I punched the cabinet in anger.

"Okay, what else did it miss?" I asked my phone through clenched teeth.

2:07 – MATT FALLS OFF CLIFF.

That was in twenty minutes! I could at least do something about that!

I closed my eyes and focused in on Matt.

Don't attack the elk. Don't attack the elk. Don't attack the elk.

I opened my eyes again. That would have to be enough for now. I could only afford to warn at this point.

When I looked back at my phone, the time read 1:57.

"I just lost ten minutes. Seriously, what the heck is going on?"

Was my manipulation causing me to lose time? But what about Dr. Hill? I didn't lose time at all. Time pretty much stopped for that entire conversation I had with him. Whatever was going on, I had to figure it out fast.

2:45 – MATT IS IMPALED THROUGH THE THROAT BY HOOKS.

2:45? I bought Matt forty minutes of life. Hopefully in those forty minutes, he could make the right choices and figure things out. Hopefully Emily would give him that flare gun.

4:09 – EMILY HAS EYES GOUGED OUT BY THE WENDIGO.

"If anyone found this phone, they would think I was crazier than the psycho out there," I muttered.

Stranger could save Emily in a sense if she took the flares with her. All she needed to do was to keep running and knock stuff over behind her to slow the Wendigo down. If everything calmed down enough about that time, I would be able to influence her to keep her alive.

4:09 – EMILY IS CRUSHED IN THE ROCK GRINDER.

I frowned. Gouged and crushed? That didn't make much sense. Unless Emily was blinded and still managed to run. But what were the odds that she would make it into the rock grinder?

4:30 – CHRIS IS DECAPITATED BY THE WENDIGO.

I remembered that one. He would either make too many mistakes or Ashley would lock him out. But that was only if Josh was in the shed. So if Josh wasn't in the shed, that could be completely avoided.

4:50 – EMILY IS SHOT IN THE EYE BY MIKE.

"What? No, this isn't right. You cannot have your eyes gouged out, fall into a rock grinder, find your way back to the lodge, and have your ex-boyfriend shoot you in the eye. No, even you aren't deserving of all that, Emily."

Now things weren't making sense at all. Emily could be killed in the game three different times in the span of an hour. But there was no way all three could happen to her in one playing.

This wasn't a list of what was about to happen. This was a list of what could happen!

5:25 – ASHLEY IS DECAPITATED BY WENDIGO AFTER OPENING THE TRAP DOOR.

5:31 – CHRIS IS DECAPITATED BY WENDIGO AFTER OPENING THE TRAP DOOR.

5:31 – CHRIS IS DECAPITATED BY WENDIGO BY WALKING ALONE IN CAVERN AFTER ASHLEY LETS WENDIGO IN.

6:23 – JOSH HAS HEAD CRUSHED BY WENDIGO.

6:30 – JESS HAS JAW RIPPED OFF.

6:31 – MATT HAS FACE SMASHED IN BY WENDIGO.

6:51 – MIKE RECEIVES BROKEN NECK BY WENDIGO.

6:52 – SAM IS IMPALED BY WENDIGO.

6:52 – ASHLEY DIES IN EXPLOSION.

6:52 – EMILY DIES IN EXPLOSION.

"Helpful. Somewhat."

Another alert popped up on my screen.

CHECK NOTES.

I went into my note app. Filed in the "Work" folder was a single note. I opened up the folder and read the title.

HOW WILL YOU SURVIVE?

"Oh, that's not ominous," I whispered sarcastically.

I scrolled down.

4:28 – TEMPEST IS DECAPICATED BY WENDIGO.

4:50 – TEMPEST IS SHOT IN THE HEAD BY MIKE.

6:23 – TEMPEST HAS HEAD SMASHED BY WENDIGO.

6:50 – TEMPEST IS DECAPITATED BY WENDIGO.

6:52 – TEMPEST DIES IN EXPLOSION.

"Holy shit."

I covered my mouth with my hand.

"Tempest?"

I jumped.

Chris was back in the doorway. "She's not here. You got everything?"

I looked at my bag. "Yeah." I zipped my bag up quickly. I pull the strap as long as it would go and slung it cross-bodied so there would be less chance of dropping it.

Chris frowned. "You okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I will be."

"You sure?"

I smiled wanly. "I think everything's starting to sink in for me." I moved to the doorway.

Chris put his hand on my shoulder. "It'll be okay."

I nodded again. "Yeah. It'll be okay."

We walked for the stairs, Chris a step or two ahead of me.

I promised myself right there that when I got out of this, I was taking a nice vacation. Disney was nice no matter what time of year. Maybe I would hang out in _Beauty and the Beast_ or _Tangled_. Those were nice places where people weren't going out of their way to slaughter one another. Yeah, I was definitely going to Disney after this.

* * *

 **Now you know why it's taken me so long to get this chapter finished. I wound up adding over 1,000 words from the original chapter.**

 **READERS, I NEED YOUR HELP: as you see, I have the character deaths and the times of death. I found them from watching the credits of** ** _Until Dawn_** **. However, I know I did not find all of them and they probably aren't all correct. You gamers who have played the game and lost some of your characters and stayed with it until dawn, if you see I have a time stamp incorrect, TELL ME! I have spent hours trying to find them all and I know I may be missing one for Chris.**

 **Thank you to all my readers and I'll do my best for the next chapter. I don't know when it will be because I haven't even started the rough draft for it. I literally just finished this chapter. Please review because your reviews have been very helpful. The quality of this story would be poorer if it weren't for your reviews.**


	6. 5: Envy: 5 Hours Until Dawn

**Back again with another chapter. Please forgive me for any mistakes; I did the final editing when I was half asleep, but I'm pretty sure I got everything. I'm so glad that you are enjoying this story and thank you for all the reviews. I know some of you liked the spooky phone Tempest has and the conversation with Dr. Hill. So here's the next chapter. Enjoy, and as always, leave your comments.**

* * *

"She wasn't up there?" Ashley asked as we came down the stairs.

"I don't know," said Chris. "I didn't see her. She must have come down here."

"I haven't seen her either," said Ashley.

I followed behind Chris as he walked towards the stairs to the lower level.

Ashley startled us both when she suddenly screamed. We turned around and saw the candle on the sideboard had lit itself.

I put a hand over my heart. "Sonofabitch," I whispered in relief. I was still jumpy from the death note I found.

"Did that just happen?" Ashley whimpered.

"Dammit!" Chris swore. "What is going on around here?"

With a shake of his head, Chris went down the stairs. "Sam!" he called.

"Chris," Ashley said softly.

"What?" asked Chris, not pausing for us.

"I just want to say, what happened back there in the shed," Ashley started.

Oh, great. I did not need this coming out now.

"I know how hard that was," Ashley continued, a sob creeping into her voice. "Josh was your friend."

"Ashley, stop," Chris told her.

"No, I just want to say – I mean thank you – thank you for saving my life."

There was a brief moment of silence.

"Ash, what I was gonna do?" Chris asked. "I couldn't let anything happen to you."

Smooth lie.

We walked into a home viewing room.

"Wow, this is nice," I said, looking around. "This is nicer than some movie theatres I've been to."

"Yeah, the Washingtons don't do anything halfway," said Chris. He sighed. "God, what am I gonna tell them? They lost all three children in a year up here."

"Tell them the truth," I answered. "What else can we do?"

Chris gave a small nod and turned to Ashley. "Ash, you all right?"

"Yeah, I just. . ." Ashley sighed. "I know you and Josh were close, Chris."

"Let's just find Sam," Chris dismissed. "Okay, that's what we're doing."

"But I mean, oh, my god," Ashley continued.

"Ashley!" Chris said a little louder. "Just stop. Okay, I don't want to think about what just happened."

"Chris," Ashley tired.

"We're finding Sam!" he drowned her out. His tone was final on the subject.

Ashley winced and looked away. She noticed something at her feet and bent down to examine it. "Look at this." She picked up a piece of broken pottery. "Chris, what happened here?"

Chris looked at the pottery piece in her hand. "I'm no forensics expert, but it looks like it was thrown. Tempest?"

I nodded. "And it hit something."

We took another moment to look for clues before leaving through the other door. As soon as we walked through it, it slammed shut behind us.

Ashley and I screamed.

"What the heck!" Ashley cried.

I heard Chris let out a breath.

Ashley walked across the hall to the next door. She turned the handle and pushed it open a few inches. It slammed back on her.

"This is so eff'ed up!" Chris commented.

Ashley tried the door again. "It's locked. That's – that's really creepy."

There was another door we could try. Ashley took the lead. When she was a few steps from the door, it opened on its own. She yelped and jumped back.

I gripped the kitchen knife in my hand. With my other, I put it on Ashley's shoulder. "We're right here."

Ashley nodded and continued through the door, Chris right behind her. She gasped and jumped back into Chris. "Wait a minute. Did you just see that?"

Chris and I looked down the empty hallway.

"Uh, did I see what?" Chris asked.

"That, Chris. That," was Ashley's reply, gesturing down the hallway with her flashlight while she walked.

"What 'that' was that?" Chris pressed.

I shook my head. "Ashley, you're using pronouns that could refer to anything from a flesh-eating monster to a sock."

"It was like . . . a see through shape. Like a ghost," Ashley answered.

"Oh, boy," Chris groaned.

"I'm serious!" Ashley insisted, getting hysteric. "Why don't you believe me? I said I saw it, doesn't that count for anything?"

"We've been through hell tonight. Okay?" Chris said calmly. "Your mind is fried. My mind is fried. I don't even trust what I've been seeing."

"No! You are wrong," Ashley maintained. "I saw it. And I am sure, Chris!"

"All right, all right," conceded Chris. "Maybe you did see something."

Ashley opened her mouth to say something else, but Chris stopped her. "Let's just keep our heads."

Keep our heads? We all could possibly be decapitated! I was laughing on the inside and not because of how droll it was, either.

"Are we going crazy down here?" Ashley asked.

"It's the only place left Sam could be, Ash," said Chris.

Ashley kept talking. "I wish we could just go find everyone else, and -."

"What if Sam needs us?" Chris asked her. "What if she's in trouble?"

Ashely started crying again. "Oh god."

The door to the basement opened on its own.

"Let's go!" Chris jogged to the door and down the stairs.

"Come on, Ashley." I followed Chris downstairs. I could hear Ashley coming down the steps behind me.

The hallway and stairs were all concrete with overhead white lights that made it very dreary.

"I thought there was no power," said Chris.

"I don't remember Josh saying anything about that," I said. "I was able to charge my phone earlier."

Chris looked over his shoulder, surprised. "You could?"

I nodded.

"And I saw that light through the vent," Ashley added.

"Come to think of it," said Chris, "when we got here and I went to unlock the door, I switched on a light and blew the bulb."

"That's probably why Josh used candles," I said. "Probably overloaded the bulbs any time someone turned a light on."

"So why are the lights working now?" asked Ashley.

There was a lot of banging punctuated at the end by the loudest bang of all. Ashley jumped and yelped. Chris jumped as well. I put the kitchen knife up to defend myself. We looked at each other before Chris took a few steps. The hallway ended and opened up into a large space.

The doors to a metal cabinet flew open and several objects came flying out causing all of us to duck out of the way.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Chris yelled. "You gotta be kidding me!"

"What the hell is going on?" Ashley turned around and screamed.

"Whoa!" Chris added.

A rocking horse was moving back and forth.

"Oh, my god, that scared me," said Ashley.

"You knocked into it, right?" Chris asked her. "You knocked into it?"

"I don't think so," replied Ashley. She began searching the room while she talked. "I mean, I don't know. How did everything get so freaky around here? Doors slamming and candles lighting up out of nowhere and that specter or whatever that was."

Chris had gone his own direction. "Ashley, I think you're kind of ignoring what's really happening here."

I went down the hallway that Sam would have taken to get away from Josh. It was the wine cellar part of the basement, racks full of bottles lining the wall.

"Don't tell me you didn't see that translucent white figure just passing right by us?" Ashley continued.

"We could be seeing things," Chris argued.

At the end of the hallway, a cabinet was in its rightful place, but it was smashed up. I then looked at the door she used. The handle was missing. With nothing more to look at, I turned back.

 _Chris placed the gun on the table._

I looked down at yellow butterfly ring. It flared brightly before fading out completely. There was a slight shimmer to it, but nothing like the twinkling wings of the other rings. All the guidance totems had been found.

"I'm not imagining things!" Ashley insisted.

"Well, I saw things, too!" Chris retorted. "I saw what happened to Josh in the shed! And that's what I'm worried about."

The three of us met up where we split up.

"Dead end that way," I told them, stopping them from arguing. "Door handle's missing."

Ashley checked the area behind the rocking horse. There was a desk with a yellow dollhouse sitting on top of it. She must have seen something because she leaned down and looked through the windows.

"Look-look-look-look, Chris," she called him over. "You can see in the windows."

Chris and I came over.

"See what?" asked Chris. "Tiny furniture?"

"No," replied Ashley. "It's a whole scene with dolls and everything."

I tapped Ashley's shoulder. "Let me see."

Ashley moved aside.

I peered through the window. "Hard to see without a flashlight."

One of them shined the light over my shoulder.

"Thanks." Now I could see the dolls a bit better. "Not much I can see here. The dolls have their backs to the window. Do either of you know how to open it up?"

I moved away for one of them to open it.

Ashley reached up to the circular window of the attic and slid it aside. There was a keyhole behind it.

"Huh. I guess you need a key to play around with it," said Chris.

"Either of you find a key while you were looking around?" I asked.

"No," replied Chris.

Ashley shook her head.

We continued our search together.

"Do you think there's something with that dollhouse?" Ashley asked.

Chris let out a sigh. "We're supposed to be finding Sam."

"I know," Ashley told him.

Chris reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

I did the same, curious at the time.

"Wait! Chris-Chris-Chris-Chris-Chris!" Ashley pointed behind us. "The ghost!"

Chris and I turned around.

"What?" Chris asked.

There was nothing down the hallway she pointed at.

"Didn't you see it?" Ashley asked.

"No," replied Chris.

I shook my head.

"You were looking at your phone, you dip!" Ashley scolded. "What are you tweeting? #There'sAFreakingGhostAfterUs?"

"Ash, calm down, okay?" Chris told her. "There is no ghost here. Ghost of what? You're freaked out 'cause of what happened with Josh."

"You're not paying attention!" she argued. "I saw it. I saw a ghost and it looked like Hannah. It looked like Hannah!"

"Wait, wait, wait, what?" Chris tried to interrupt.

"Or maybe Beth!" Ashley screamed.

"What do you think? They followed us up here from the séance?" snapped Chris.

"I don't know, maybe!" Ashley screamed back.

"They didn't!" Chris shouted over her. "Because ghosts don't exist!"

"Okay, who was talking to us at the séance, Chris?" Ashley asked.

"I don't know," Chris answered.

They were quiet for a moment. I was relieved they stopped arguing for the moment. Maybe now we could move on.

A young woman's scream scared the living daylights out of us. We jumped again when a painting was flung on the floor where Ashley saw the "ghost".

"What did that?" whimpered Ashley.

"How does a picture just jump off a wall like that?" asked Chris.

I changed my grip on the kitchen knife. "Give me a light."

"What are you doing?" asked Ashley.

"I'm going down there to see what that was," I replied.

Ashley didn't hand me her flashlight. "I'll go with you."

"Fine."

I started down the hallway. Ashley followed behind me, shining the flashlight over my shoulder. Chris was a few steps behind her.

I stepped in a puddle of water. "Watch it. It's slick here."

We looked to the wall where the picture had been. On the picture hook was a key. It wasn't a house key. It was old-fashioned, too big to use in a modern lock.

Ashley reached around and took the key off the hook. "Ah! Here you go!" She turned to Chris, holding up the key. "Oh, my god!"

I turned and looked over Chris's shoulder. There was something standing at the opposite end of the hallway where we had been a minute before. It was pointing to something, but we couldn't see what.

"There!" cried Ashley.

Chris turned around just in time to see it walk off.

"Look there, Chris!" Ashley cried. "You can't tell me you didn't see that!"

"Whoa," Chris said slowly. "That's. . ."

"See?" Ashely said. "You do see it!"

"I don't know," Chris continued. "I just. . . This is fucking crazy!" He sprinted after the figure.

"Chris, it's showing us the way," Ashley said almost dreamily.

I gave her a dry look. I couldn't bring myself to say anything to that. It sounded completely stupid to me, but how would she know that this was all Josh? I shook my head and followed Chris.

Chris was standing where the figure had been.

Ashley walked passed us and over to the dollhouse. "Oh, this is unbelievable. I feel like the ghost wanted me to see this." She put the key in the lock of the dollhouse.

Chris shook his head in disbelief. "Why? What?"

Ashley unlocked the dollhouse and opened the side.

The three of us gathered around it.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," said Chris. "What is going on here?"

Inside were several dolls lined up with their backs showing. They were completely naked. One looked to be holding a video camera. They were all looking at a doll standing up at the back. That doll was the only one facing us and it had its eyes blacked out.

"Oh, god," whispered Ashley. "It's like. . ."

"It's not 'like' anything," said Chris. "That's us! Hiding there, waiting for Hannah last year."

"But it's so accurate!" Ashley said. "I mean, that's exactly where I was sitting. And that's where Matt was -."

"This was set up by someone who was there," Chris dismissed.

"Or someone or something that was watching us," Ashley added, starting to get panicked again.

"Maybe it's a warning," Chris speculated. "I think someone put this here to mess with us."

"No, it has to be the ghost!" insisted Ashley. "It's trying to tell us the maniac killed Hannah and Beth!"

"I think it's this bastard and he's trying to fuck with our heads!" interjected Chris.

"Why would he set this all up, Chris?" asked Ashley.

All three of us looked into the dollhouse.

"He's trying to tell us he's going to come after all of us, too," Chris answered.

The Hannah doll moved and opened its eyes. The three of us jumped back. The roof of the dollhouse lifted up on its own.

Ashley reached in and pulled out a pink journal. "It's Hannah's diary. 'Everyone being together here on the mountain is gonna be so awesome. Cozy fires and hot tubs and OMG Mike. I am so psyched to spend some time with him.' I can't read this! It's so sad, Chris." She sighed and put the diary back in the dollhouse.

There was a click and a slow creak.

"What was that?" whispered Ashley.

Chris nodded in the direction of the hallway. "It came from down there," he answered quietly. "Tempest, you have your knife?"

I held it up for him to see. I adjusted my bag so it rested on my back.

Chris led the way down the wet hallway. The door at the end was open a crack. The three of us looked at each other. Ashley reached for the doorknob and pulled the door open. It was another room. Ashley stepped through the doorway.

A white figure with a bloody mouth jumped up in front of us and screeched. Ashley jumped back into me with a scream.

It disappeared.

Chris went charging in after it. As soon as he went through the door, it slammed shut behind him, leaving us on the other side.

I heard Chris swearing on the other side.

"Chris! Chris!" Ashley tired the handle, but it wouldn't open.

"Move!" I told her.

I pushed her aside and brought my foot up to kick the door in. Just as I kicked, Chris opened the door. The door flew back and the edge caught him in the face.

"Ow!" Chris doubled over, holding his head. "Dammit!"

"Geez, Chris! Sorry!" I apologized.

"What the hell, Tempest?" scolded Ashley.

I gently pulled his hand away. The bruise he had been sporting now had a gash. "I am really sorry."

"And my headache's back," he moaned.

I pulled my bag around and took out a gauze pad. "Here, hold this on it."

"Thanks," he said, accepting the gauze pad.

"You did see it, Chris," said Ashley. "For real."

"I saw something," Chris responded. "And then I was hit in the head."

"Sorry," I said again.

Chris shined his light around the room. "But where did it go?"

We looked around the room. There were some tools and a workbench. Ashley went over to the workbench to see what was there.

"Look at this," she said. She picked up a book. "It doesn't seem as old as some of the stuff down here."

I looked over her shoulder. "It's a catalog. 'Gleem Professional'?"

"They specialize in industrial lightbulbs," Chris supplied. "I remember Josh saying something about his dad using that company."

"What's Josh's dad do for a living?" I asked.

"He's a movie director," Chris replied. "He's really big in Hollywood."

Ashley flipped through the catalog. "Look. One of the bulbs is circled."

"'Original lamp for RB-type projectors'," I read.

Ashley put the catalog down. Next to where she put the catalog was a pair of scissors. She picked them up and put them in her pocket. She walked off to investigate the rest of the room.

I turned around to the table behind me. There were a bunch of boxes. And a camera. I looked at the lens, smiled and waved, and turned it so it faced the boring side of a box.

I missed what Ashley and Chris said to each other, but Ashley yelped in disgust and was shaking her hand to get something off.

Chris went to the other side of the room and continued on. Ashley and I followed.

There was a great crash that shook everything. Dust fell from the ceiling.

"What was that?" Ashley asked slowly.

"That felt big, but it sounded far off," I said.

"As long as it says away," Ashley said.

We walked through the doorway, following Chris.

"There's a whole 'nother room through here," Chris told us. "It's mammoth!"

"Chris, I don't know if I want to keep going," said Ashley.

We went down some stairs into an even more dilapidated hallway. There was light coming in through the holes in the ceiling.

"Where in the world are we now?" Ashley asked.

"Are you kidding me?" was Chris's response, surprised by what we were seeing.

"Did you know this was here?" asked Ashley.

"This?" asked Chris. "This is like a whole 'nother hotel. I had no idea this was here."

I looked at some of the chairs stacked on some small tables. "What did they do – build the lodge on top of the hotel?"

Chris shook his head. "I don't know for sure. I can't remember if there was a fire or something. But that's what it looks like – they just built directly over top of it."

"These hallways could go on for a good while," I said. "Do you know how big the original hotel was?"

"Big," replied Chris.

I made a face. That was helpful.

Chris checked the gash on his head. "Man, this stings," he hissed.

"We got a minute." I pulled my bag around and opened it. "Should have done this as soon has it happened."

I took out the antiseptic and doused a clean gauze pad with it. "This is going to sting."

Chris removed the soiled gauze pad and I dabbed the clean one on the wound. "Ow!"

"Yeah, I know," I said sympathetically. "Ashley, can you hold you light up so I can see what I'm doing?"

Ashley moved around so her light was shining on us.

"Thank you."

The gash was still bleeding a bit. I got a large adhesive bandage to cover it and hopefully stop the bleeding. I tapped the edges of the bandage down around his bruise.

Chris hissed again.

"Sorry, I'm being as gently as I can," I told him.

"You're fine. I barely feel it," he said. "You know, if psychology doesn't work out for you, you could be a nurse."

I gave him a half smile. "Yeah, right."

"No, really," said Chris. "You're really gentle. Every other nurse I had seemed to like sticking me with needles and slapping on bandages."

I snorted. "You're done."

"Thanks," said Chris.

I started cleaning up, leaving the soiled things on the floor since there was no trashcan. I glanced up at Ashley. The redhead was giving me a dirty look. I ignored her in favor of finishing packing up.

Ashley turned to Chris. "I don't think I can take any more of this."

"Yeah, I'm about at my limit, too," Chris agreed.

"All I wanted to do was forget last year ever happened," Ashley said.

"To be honest, I'm not sure what Hannah thought she was doing," admitted Chris.

Ashley nodded. "Yeah, well . . . you know how it is when you're crushing pretty hard on somebody."

Chris got a little indignant at the comment. "Great, so you're basically saying that we put a vulnerable friend in a terrible situation and essentially caused her to run away and never be heard from again?"

"If it was you, don't you think you would have run away?" asked Ashley. "I mean, who likes being made fun of?"

"People don't make fun of me," said Chris.

"To your face," Ashley pointed out.

He looked at her in disbelief. "What?"

Ashley continued, "Chris, we made her look so stupid in front of all her friends and the guy she liked. I can't imagine doing anything worse to somebody."

I could. I said nothing to that though. They would figure it out here in the next half hour or so.

Chris turned away and kept walking.

The hallway opened up into another room.

Ashley noticed something off to the side. She went over and knelt down. "Hey." She tore off a label. "These . . . Are these fake?"

I went over and looked over her shoulder. She had found a bundle of newspapers still partially wrapped in brown paper packaging. "Fake newspapers?"

"Why would anyone make fake newspapers?" Ashley asked.

"That's a really good question," said Chris.

"Didn't you say that Josh's dad is a movie director?" I asked. "It would make sense that stuff like this is here. It's probably something from one of the movies he worked on."

Ashley looked at the shipping label. "It's dated from August."

"I don't remember Josh saying anything about his dad working on another movie," said Chris. "They usually live wherever he's working to stay close to each other. And why would he send props here?"

I shrugged.

Ashley stood up and we walked over to the other side of the room. It wasn't another hallway, but stairs leading down.

"You know what? No," said Ashley.

"Ash -," Chris started.

"No!" she insisted. "I've had enough! I'm not going down any further into this nightmare, Chris!"

"Ashley, I understand, okay?" Chris said calmly. "I'm really freaked out, too. But if Sam's down there all alone with a maniac . . . and we leave? We're basically killing her ourselves."

Ashley drew in on herself. "I'm really scared," she admitted quietly.

"We're all scared, Ashley," I said.

Ashley shook her head. "You don't get scared, Tempest."

I smiled wanly. "Who says I don't get scared?"

"But -."

"I'm scared, too, Ashley. I just don't let it control me." My smile turned encouraging. "Now, I don't know about you, but Chris and I are going to find Sam. Do you want to go back up and wait in the lodge by yourself or are you coming with us?"

Ashley huffed a sigh. "You guys are right."

"I don't want to be," Chris told Ashley. "I want to leave. But I'm not leaving Sam down there to the mercy of this maniac."

"No, we gotta find Sam," said Ashley. "Let's go."

Chris took the lead again and started down the stairs.

"Chris, I'm gettin' a really weird feeling from all this," said Ashley.

"What do you mean?" asked Chris.

"I just . . . I can't shake the feeling that those fake newspapers have something to do with the guy who killed Josh," Ashley replied.

"Like what?" Chris asked. "Like it's a set up or something?"

"Yeah," she answered. "But . . . I mean, how? It's just . . . it almost makes sense, but it just feels like we're missing something."

I smirked. "Glad I'm not the only one who thinks this."

Chris frowned. "What?"

"Think," I said. "Fake newspapers, those could be for anything. Then we saw the lightbulb catalog."

"So?" asked Ashley.

"That particular lightbulb was for a projector," I pointed out. "A projector that can project images of a ghost."

Ashley shook her head. "No, that ghost was real! How else would it have been able to move things?"

"Wires and magnets," I replied. "Movie props. We're surrounded by them. The basement is practically a storage facility for them."

"But the dolls," Ashley went on. "Hannah's diary."

"You recorded your little 'prank'," I said. "Anyone could have gotten ahold of the footage and knew what to set up where." I let out a little laugh. "This is all staged."

"No, it can't be," Ashley denied. "There was a ghost. It was Hannah's ghost. I'm sure of it."

I threw my hands up. "Fine. Don't think logically."

"Why don't you believe me!" she yelled in my face.

Chris got between us. "Okay, that's enough. We're not solving anything like this. Tempest was just pointing out the possibility."

Ashley glared at Chris. "You always side with her!" she accused.

Chris was taken aback. "What? No, I don't."

"Yes, you do, you believe her over me," Ashley snapped.

"Well, forgive me if Tempest's idea makes more sense to me than yours," Chris countered. "There's no such things as ghosts!"

"Fine," Ashley said flatly. "Lead on."

Chris looked back at me.

"Sorry," I mouthed.

Chris walked away.

Ashley glared at me. "You stay away from him," she warned before following.

We didn't get far before Ashley saw something sparking down another hallway. She went down to check and when she returned, she was angry. She must found the car batteries and the timers.

"Not a word," she growled at me.

I put my hands up in surrender.

Ashley took the lead.

Two more turns and we were in what could only be described as a slaughter house. Once the three of us were through the door, it slammed behind us.

Ashley started crying when she saw the bloody hooks and blades on the wall over an industrial sink. Flies swarmed around the blood.

"Oh, geez," said Chris. "This is so enticing."

"Oh, boy," Ashley added. "You think all this stuff is his?"

"Unless the Washingtons were into some freaky shit in their spare time, then, yeah, probably," Chris answered.

"Be careful what you touch," I told them. "You cut yourself on this stuff and we are definitely taking a trip to the ER."

We took a few moments to look around.

"Oh, no! You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Ashley. "Repulsive!"

A pig was strung up and gutted.

"This can't be for eating," muttered Chris.

"No. No, it is not," I agreed.

"Why the hell is that here?" Ashley asked.

"Well, now we know where the blood upstairs came from," I said.

Ashley looked at me. "What blood?"

"The blood on the wall out back," I told her. "Chris lost his mind when he saw that. He thought you were dead when he saw it."

I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye and saw her looking at Chris with some sort of appreciation.

We left the pig where it was and went to the other side of the room. I followed Ashley over to a bulletin board. There were a bunch of pictures stuck to it. All of them were of the friends. The picture of Josh had his eyes cut out.

"That's us," whispered Ashley.

Chris came over. "What is this?" he asked when he saw the pictures. "A fucking hit list? God!"

I tapped Ashley's shoulder. "Let's go."

Ashley agreed and almost ran to the other side of the room. Over there was another door and she opened it. "Guys!"

Chris and I jogged over. The only thing in the room was a table and a movie projector. Chris flipped it on and it started playing.

"Oh, my god! I can't believe you actually did this!" said Video Emily.

Ashley watched in horror. "Oh, god. Chris, this is from last year."

"Don't you guys think this is a little bit cruel," Sam was saying on the video.

"Oh, come on! She deserves it," said Video Jess.

The three of us watched.

"The stupid prank," Ashley muttered.

Video Ashley laughed as she hid. Someone shushed her.

Video Hannah came in, calling for Mike.

"This is a little uncomfortable, huh?" said Chris.

"I've never seen this video," Ashley said. "She's just so . . ."

"So what?" Chris asked.

"She's so excited," Ashley went on. "And alive."

Video Hannah stared taking off her shirt.

"She has no idea," said Chris.

Ashley turned away. "Oh, geez."

"Oh, my god! She's taking her shirt off!" squealed Video Jess.

Chris turned to Ashley. "I forgot you were such a willful participant."

"This is horrible," Ashley admitted. "Couldn't feel worse."

Chris shrugged. "Looks like you were enjoying yourself."

"That's the worst part, isn't it?" said Ashley. "We were just playing a joke. It was supposed to be funny."

"I fail to see the humor in this," I told them. "What were you thinking?"

"It was a prank!" Ashley said again.

"You keep saying that!" I snapped. "But that doesn't make it okay. It doesn't change the fact that Hannah was embarrassed and from looking at this video, felt completely betrayed."

Chris and Ashley flinched.

"Honestly, I'm surprised that Josh is still friends with you all," I added.

We looked back at the video.

Video Hannah was turning towards the camera, a smile on her face. Slowly her face began to morph into something scary. It flashed into one of those prank scare videos designed to scare the viewer.

Ashley screamed. "Chris-Chris-Chris-Chris-Chris! What is going on?"

"Ash, slow down, okay?" Chris said, trying to get her to calm down.

"I can't handle this," Ashley said. "Ghosts and these videos and everything just flying around!"

"Just calm down!" Chris tried to talk over her. "Listen to me for a second."

"What? Calm down?" Ashley parroted. "Why should I calm down? I'm freaking out, Chris. I'm freaking out right now!"

"This has gotta be someone messing with us," Chris told her.

"What?"

"Think about it," said Chris. "Ghosts don't hook up video cameras, they don't play games."

"Then who would set this all up?" Ashley asked. "Seriously, I'm asking."

Chris threw his hands up. "I don't know. Maybe the same person who tied you up and killed Josh? The same person might have Sam right now."

Ashley moaned. "Maybe you're right."

"I wish I wasn't," admitted Chris.

Ashley gave a small nod.

Chris left the room with us behind him.

We left the slaughter room and continued down another hallway.

"Oh, crap," Chris muttered. His flashlight illuminated drag marks in blood. It led to a closed door. "Look at that."

"Blood?" Ashley questioned.

"Might be Sam's," said Chris. He grabbed the door. "All right, let me see if I can get this."

With a lot of effort, Chris managed to get the door open partway. "I got it, but damn, this thing is heavy."

"Be careful," said Ashley.

"You gotta come through," he said. "I can't hold it."

Ashley wasn't looking at Chris, but down the hallway where it turned. There were a few holes in the wall, light coming through them. There was also movement. "Oh, Chris!"

"What?" Chris strained.

"I think I just saw Sam over there!"

"Are you sure?" asked Chris.

"I don't know, but come on, I think we should check it out," insisted Ashley.

Chris grunted. "Well, I'm pretty sure whosever bleeding came through here, okay? So we really gotta get moving, like now!"

I pushed Ashley in the direction of the door. "You go with Chris, I'll check it out. I'll catch up with you later."

"Okay, be careful," Ashley told me. She slipped under Chris and Chris let it close.

Now I was on my own. I went over to where Ashley could see through to the other side of the wall. I could see the psycho. I walked through a set of double doors and the slammed shut behind me. I ducked and scooted over to the wall.

I could hear his distorted breathing. Slowly, I looked up and could see the edge of the psycho's mask. As long as he didn't look down, I was safe. Several tense seconds later, he walked away.

At the end of this hallway there was a door that would loop me around to where Chris and Ashley were. I crawled over and went through it. I closed the door behind me.

"Tempest?"

I jumped. Chris and Ashley had just turned the corner. I knew they were there and they still scared me!

"Was it Sam?" asked Ashley.

"No," I replied quietly. "It was our resident psychopath. He didn't go far. We need to quickly and quietly get through here."

"Where did he go?" Chris asked.

"Dunno, but he's still around," I told them.

Ashley made a keening sound.

"Shut up," I hissed. "We need to be quiet."

"Please, no!" That was Sam's voice.

Ashley looked in the direction of the noise. "S-."

I clamped my hand over her mouth. "What part of 'quiet' did you not understand?"

Chris pointed to the double doors across the hallway. "Sounded like it came from in there."

I held the knife up, ready to attack. I nodded to Chris and Ashley. Ashley pushed the door open.

It was dark in the room, just like all the others. Ashley's light landed on someone sitting in a chair across the room with their back to us.

"Oh, Chris," she whispered. "Oh, no."

I could see a hand hanging over the chair arm.

"Hello?" Chris called softly.

"Sam?" Ashley asked tentatively. She turned the chair around. The person's head fell forward. "Sam!"

It only took a second for the three of us to see that it wasn't Sam, but a dummy in Sam's clothes with the same face as the scarecrow Chris and I found outside.

"I don't get it," said Ashley.

"Shit!" swore Chris.

"It's a dummy," I said.

"Yeah, no, I can see that," said Ashley.

"Why is it dressed up as Sam?" Chris asked.

"I don't know," said Ashley.

"Why would someone dress up a dummy like Sam?" Chris asked again.

"Chris, I don't know and I'm kind of freaking out!" answered Ashley.

"Where the hell is Sam?" Chris demanded.

Ashley covered her face with her hands. "This is crazy! This is crazy!"

Chris gasped and dropped his flashlight.

Ashley had put hers down to turn the chair around and now there was almost complete blackness.

"Chris!" yelled Ashley. "Oh, shit!"

Ashley grabbed the flashlight and stood up, coming face to face with the psycho. "Get back! Stay the hell away from me!"

He came at her with a mask and a gas canister.

Ashley wasted no time grabbing the scissors from her back pocket and stabbing him in the shoulder.

He dropped the canister and the mask with a yell. "No-no-no!" He clutched his injured arm. "Live and learn!"

"What?"

The psycho punched Ashley in the face, knocking her out. "Live and learn."

He then noticed me in the shadows.

"Live and learn," I repeated. "And fight another day."

I took off sprinting out of the room. I didn't go far, but found a hiding place in a dark corner of a hallway and waited. He wasn't following me. Most likely because he had to get Chris and Ashley into place before they woke up.

Right now I needed to find Sam. She would soon be finding her way back to the lodge's basement. I could wait for her there. Now I just had to get there.

Something vibrated at my hip. I reached into my pocket and took out my phone. I had a new alert.

"What now?"

CHECK PHOTOS.

What photos? My phone photos?

I opened my camera app. There was only one picture, a blue butterfly.

The humming from earlier filled my ears again. This time I just closed my eyes and sat down. Now what was going on?

* * *

 **And the spooky phone is back again! I think I'm having too much fun with it, but I love it!**


	7. 6: Flashback: 6 Hours Until Dawn

**Hey, guys. So this chapter is a little different than you are probably used to reading. The chapter name is not a mistype. I purposely did it and you will see how it makes sense when you start reading. As always, leaving me a comment at the end to tell me what you think.**

* * *

"Welcome back."

I opened my eyes. I was back in the chair in Dr. Hill's office. The room was different from last time. It was larger and there were camera monitors at the back.

Dr. Hill was sitting behind his desk. "So, how's planning going?"

I shook my head. "I don't know at this point."

"Well, it's . . ." Dr. Hill looked at the clock. "Almost three. The next four hours are crucial."

"Got about an hour of grace left," I said. "Four is when things really start going downhill."

"But things have already started going downhill," said Dr. Hill. "Haven't you noticed?"

I frowned.

Dr. Hill smirked and shook his head. "So observant to the story, yet so blind to the changes. All this power and you can't see what's right in front of your face."

"What am I missing?" I asked, more to myself than to Dr. Hill.

"Think, Tempest!" shouted Dr. Hill. "What has changed?"

I jumped in the chair. "The story's on track."

Dr. Hill scoffed. "The story's on track. The story's on track! That's all that matters, doesn't it? You don't care about the characters. They're just pawns."

"No, the characters make a story," I argued.

"And the characters are changing the story. You just don't see it! Think, girl! What has changed? What have you changed?"

Dr. Hill got up and walked over to the boarded up window, giving me space.

It had only been an hour since I was last here, so something during that hour had to have happened. But what? The clues had been found. Chris and Ashley got caught, as was supposed to happen. Chris and Ashley fought over if there was really a ghost in the lodge and I sided with Chris since I knew there really wasn't a ghost.

I sided with Chris.

I sided with Chris and Chris backed me up. He didn't believe Ashley had seen a ghost from the start. She had gone as far as warning me off. She felt threatened that I would take Chris away from her!

"Oh, man," I groaned.

Dr. Hill looked over at me and smiled. "So you see it now? Better now than later."

I wondered how I was going to fix this. I had to make Ashely see that I had no interest in Chris.

Dr. Hill returned to his chair. "Now, there is something else we need to talk about."

"And what's that?"

"Time," he replied.

I sighed. "A little over four hours until dawn. I think I can make it."

"That's true," said Dr. Hill. "But I wasn't talking about surviving until dawn. I was talking about what you are going to do with the time before dawn."

He stood up again and started to slowly pace the room. "Your mission was to save Josh. All you had to do to complete your mission was to keep him alive and get him off the mountain. That was the only mission you were given. But you've created your own mission; save everyone. You made so much more work for yourself."

"I can do it," I told him determinedly.

Dr. Hill paused to look at me. "Yes, you can." He continued to pace. "But there is surviving and then there is living. You can save them all, but how will it continue afterwards? For you, once the sun rises, your job is done. You get to go home and live like it never happened. This a dream for you. But for them, this is their lives! This will haunt them for the rest of their lives. What scars are they going to come away with? What friends are they going to lose on the mountain?"

He stopped pacing and looked me in the eye. "What bonds will be made and broken?"

I probably already ruined the chances with Chris and Ashley. I could try to bring them back together, but I wasn't sure how and it wouldn't be the same as it would have been in the game.

"What needs to be done?" I asked him.

"Only you can really answer that," said Dr. Hill. "But I would start with learning from the past. If we forget history, we are doomed to repeat it."

"I already screwed up a major relationship between Chris and Ashley," I pointed out. "Dunno about Matt and Emily."

"Then go back and look," said Dr. Hill.

"How?" I asked. "I wasn't there."

"Time's an illusion here," said Dr. Hill. "Have you forgotten that? You may not be able to change what has happened, but you can view it. It's really no different than watching a movie. You can pause and rewind, but you can't change it unless you make your own movie from scratch. Even with your powers growing stronger, you can't change what has happened. Your subconscious won't allow it."

I knew I couldn't be in control of everything. It was difficult enough trying to influence the characters. I couldn't outright control them, the same with changing things that already happened. My subconscious knew right from wrong and how things worked. It was the framework for every dream, normal and lucid. If it could bend and break, everything could fall apart entirely.

But I didn't need to change anything. I just had to look back and observe. It was just another way to gather information. My only problem was the time. I had to find Sam, get back to Chris and Ashley, and make sure Josh didn't get locked up in the shed.

"Time's an illusion here," I repeated Dr. Hill's words. I smiled. "Thanks."

"Have a nice trip, Tempest."

I closed my eyes and let the room disappear.

I opened my eyes and found myself standing in the cable car station. The lights were off, but that wasn't an issue for me. It had been trashed and the word "Die" had been painted several times on the walls in red paint.

I heard the door handle jiggle like someone was trying to get in.

"Oh, what now?" I heard Emily say. "This is locked, Matt. Well, break the door down, will ya?"

"Whoa, wait a second," I heard Matt say. "If we start smashing shit down, he's gonna hear us."

"Well, you got any better suggestions?" Emily asked condescendingly.

"I don't know," said Matt. There was second of silence. "What about . . . Look! A window!"

"That's great, Matt, I can just about fit my lip balm through that little slot," said Emily.

Matt sighed. "Come on!"

"You will never fit through there, big guy," Emily pointed out.

"I won't fit, but you will."

"Are you nuts?" Emily immediately said. "You're gonna shove my ass through that little hole?"

"I've seen you fit into some pretty tight jeans, Em."

"Uh, excuse me?"

"It's a talent!" Matt was getting aggravated with her for being uncooperative.

"Think again, lug head, no can do," Emily said. "For one thing, that maniac is probably just sitting there under that window waiting to blend us into pina coladas."

"And that's different from me smashing through the door how?" Matt asked.

"Uh, you have the axe," Emily answered. "At least you have a chance."

"Fine."

I heard the axe banging on the door. Matt smashed it open and reached around for the light. He flipped the switch and saw the state of the station.

"Oh, damn," he said looking at the trashed cable car station.

"We were just here a few hours ago," said Emily. "This must have just happened."

"What the fuck is going on here?" Matt demanded.

"It's gotta be the guy," said Emily. "The one who got Chris and Ashley . . . and Josh."

"He's gotta know this is the only way back," said Matt.

"Don't say that," whimpered Emily.

Matt looked out the window. "Look! The cable car's all the way over there."

The cable car was part of the way down the line, out of reach, but within taunting range.

Emily looked out the window. "That's not far, is it? You can jump it?"

Matt laughed. "I'm good, Em, but not that good. Flattered, though."

Emily pointed at the cable car. "Matt, if you can't jump that, what are we gonna do?"

"I don't know!" Matt said.

Emily look around. "Everything is so busted up," she moaned.

"I think they knew exactly what they were doing," said Matt. He went over to the control panel and found there was no key. "Great. No keys, no cable car. So back to square one."

Matt turned around and noticed a framed map that had been knocked down. He picked it up and glanced over it. "Hey, there's a fire tower!"

"Hey, Magellan, how about you get the cable car working?" she whined.

"That's kinda hard when I don't have the keys to work it," Matt retorted.

Emily gasped. "What about the fire tower on the map you found?"

"What about it?" Matt asked, not really caring about it after Emily insulted him yet again.

"Maybe it has a radio or something," Emily went on, getting excited that they could find a way off the mountain. "It would, wouldn't it?"

"Probably," said Matt.

"Matt, we gotta get to that radio," said Emily.

"That could work, but maybe we should get back to the lodge and get the others," said Matt. "Everyone's been split up for so long."

Emily frowned. "Wait, so, first you want to leave the lodge, now you want to go back. You don't know what the right thing to do is any more than I do, Matt. And I say we should go to the fire tower and get on the radio and call for more help and that's that."

"If you feel that strongly about it," muttered Matt, cowed into submission.

I sighed. He was so whipped.

"I do, Matt," said Emily. "And I'm surprised that you don't, too."

"I do!" Matt quickly replied. "I do! Really!"

Practicing for the wedding? This was so sad.

They both went around to see if they could find another exit that would put them in the direction of the fire tower. They found the access ladder that could get them down to the ledge so they could walk around the station.

Emily couldn't reach it to pull it down.

"What's cookin', good lookin'?" Matt quipped. He knelt down to give her a boost.

"Getting us out of here, Mister Meat for Brains," she snapped.

Thanks to Matt's boost, she could pull the ladder down. She climbed down to the ledge.

"Look at this, bad boy," said Emily. She had found a flashlight at the bottom of the ladder. "You're comin' with me, buddy."

Matt followed her down.

Emily started inching her way to the end of the ledge. "And just like magic. We can totally get out of her this way." She lost her footing and fell forward.

Matt reached out and caught her around the waist and pulled her back in. "You all right?"

"Yeah, thanks," Emily whimpered. "Maybe you should go first, to protect me."

They switched places.

Matt had very little trouble inching across the ledge and turning to the other side of the wall. Emily kept muttering to herself.

"I'm feeling kinda faint," Emily complained.

"Just keep going," said Matt. He stepped off onto the snowy ground.

Emily followed behind him. "Holy cannoli! Thank god that's over!"

She took lead with the flashlight and they continued up the path.

"What if it doesn't work?" asked Emily.

"What?"

"The radio!" Emily clarified.

"It'll work," Matt insisted.

"But if it doesn't, we need a plan," Emily said.

"Maybe we can climb down," Matt suggested.

"Climb down what?" asked Emily.

"The mountain."

"Are you serious?" Emily asked with a little laugh in her voice.

"Yeah. What's the big deal? It's not like its floating in the sky."

"It might as well be," said Emily. "It's pitch black out."

"Hopefully we won't have to."

Emily's voice took on a condescending tone. "You think this psychopath is just gonna give up and run away?"

"No! But maybe we should find a safe spot, hole up, wait it out. It'll be a lot easier to figure this all out in the morning."

"As long as we don't hide in the lodge. That's where he expects us to go," said Emily.

There was silence between them for a few moments. I knew they were getting close to the cliff where Hannah and Beth fell from.

Matt noticed something by a tree and picked it up.

 _Ashley opened a door and Chris came charging in, slamming it behind him._

Matt quickly put the totem down and looked at it warily. I could tell he was disturbed to see something when he turned totem over, but he didn't want to say anything.

Emily had turned right, but Matt turned left. There was a covered walkway leading into the trees. Emily noticed he wasn't following her and turned around to give him some light.

Matt walked under the roof and his foot stepped on a creaky floorboard. He reached down and pulled the board up. Under it was a broken cellphone. He picked it up and showed it to Emily.

"Whoa, this is Beth's phone," said Emily.

"I thought the police swept the whole area," said Matt.

"Well, looks like they missed this," Emily said.

Matt pocketed the cellphone.

"Come on," said Emily, turning back. "I found another path this way."

She led Matt to the right hand path she found and kept walking until it dropped off. Really dropped off.

"This is supposed to be a path!" Emily snapped.

Matt knelt down and picked up half a sign. "DAN – CLIFF" it read.

"Watch where you step around here," said Matt.

"Yes, Matt, given the choice, I prefer not to spend my evening plummeting to my death off a snowy clifftop," she said with false cheer.

"We'll go back to where we found Beth's phone," said Matt. "That trail continued into the woods."

They turned back and only walked a few steps when there was a loud screeching.

"Matt, what is that?" asked Emily.

"I don't know," Matt replied.

A herd of elk walked out of the trees. One of them bellowed.

"Oh, shit!" cried Emily.

The herd pushed Matt and Emily to the cliff edge.

"Dammit!" muttered Matt.

"Matt!" Emily hissed. "What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do?"

"Stay calm," Matt replied. "Relax. They're just deer. They just want to check us out, is all."

"No, no-no-no, Matt," Emily said a little louder. "They're gonna hurt us."

Matt shushed her. He put the axe he was carrying up and slowly started moving towards the herd. They parted for him. One in particular didn't want to move for him.

"Don't swing," I muttered under my breath.

Matt moved a little closer and it moved out of his way.

I let out a sigh of relief. My earlier warning to him must have gotten through to him.

"Just walk slow," Matt told Emily. "It's okay. Come on."

Emily followed closely behind him, shying away from the elk who were trying to get a sniff of her.

The elk didn't move far from them. Once Matt and Emily were through the thick of the herd, they climbed over some rocks and fallen trees and got on the lower path. From there they continued on, not looking back.

"If we do manage to get someone on the radio," Emily started.

"We will," Matt assured.

"Then we tell them we need help," Emily continued. "What do we do while we wait?"

"We go back to the lodge and get everyone else," Matt answered.

"Oh, god, not the lodge," said Emily. "We should stay here in case whoever it is needs to get back in touch with us."

"Let's get that radio working first," said Matt.

The scene shifted and I found myself in the fire tower. It was still standing, but no one was around. Emily and Matt must not have been on their way up.

The hatch door shifted before it opened. Emily climbed up the ladder. She dusted herself off as Matt came up. He shut and locked the hatch behind him.

"You all right?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Emily replied.

She went over to the locker and opened it. Hannah's missing poster was tacked to the door. "Sorry, Hannah. You're still missing."

"After tonight their disappearance is starting to make more sense," said Matt.

Emily closed the door and looked at the table. "Radio!" she cheered. She dashed over to it and flipped it on, but there was nothing. "Oh, no. It won't turn on! What are we going to do, Matt?"

"Calm down," said Matt. "The lights work downstairs, so maybe there's a fuse switch we need to flip."

"And where would that be?" Emily asked.

Matt looked around. "I don't see a fuse box in here. There's probably one outside. Come on."

Matt opened the door to the observation deck and Emily followed him out.

"Right here it is," said Matt. The fuse box was just outside the door. He opened it up and flipped the switch. The lights came on.

"Fuck, yeah!" cheered Emily. "Here we go! Score one for Matt and Emily!"

They came back inside. Emily checked the fax machine on the other table. It printed out a single sheet of paper. She turned it over and saw it was Beth's missing poster. "Sorry you're still missing, too, Beth."

Emily went over to the radio and tried it again. It lit up like it had power, but there was a lot of static.

"Hello?" Emily called. She adjusted the channel dial. "Hello?"

She kept fiddling with the channel dial, but it was all static. "Why isn't it working?" she cried.

"It might be the storm," Matt surmised.

"Great!" Emily barked. "Now what? No radio means no help."

Matt looked over at the fax machine. "We could send a fax."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like that's gonna work."

Matt put his hands out to his sides. "Do you have any better ideas?"

"Okay," Emily conceded with a nod. "Okay. We need to find a pen. And then who are we going to send it to?"

"We send it to the number the missing posters were sent from," said Matt. "They were probably distributed to the rangers from their headquarters. Somebody's bound to find it."

"And how are we going to know the number?" asked Emily.

"Beth's poster just came through," said Matt. "It was the last message, so we just have to select the last incoming number on the fax machine."

"But who knows how long this thing's been off," Emily went on. "The number may have been disconnected."

"It's still worth a try," Matt insisted.

"Matt, just fix the fucking radio!" Emily screamed at him.

"Oh, my god, Emily!" Matt yelled in exasperation. "What is so wrong with my idea?"

"Because it's not going to work," Emily replied.

"And yours is? Emily, I know nothing about fixing radios or electronics. You want a geek to fix the radio? We'll go get Chris."

"I am not going back to the lodge," Emily maintained.

Matt shook his head. "You know what? Forget it."

Emily frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I'm done," said Matt. "I'm done arguing with you."

He started looking for a pen to write with.

I was somewhat impressed. He actually grew a spine.

Matt found a pen and started writing on the back of Beth's missing poster. When he was finished, he pulled up the last incoming call and sent off the message. The fax beeped and brought up the message "NO CONNECTION".

"Shit! Well, that didn't work," said Matt.

Emily crossed her arms and adopted a smug look. "You know, you really should start playing by the rules."

Matt climbed under the desk to see if he could fix the cords so they could send an outgoing fax. "And what rules would those be?"

"Rule number one: 'Emily is always right'. Rule number two: 'Nothing else matters because Emily is always right'."

Matt stood up. "You know, she's right about you."

Emily made a face. "Who?"

"Tempest. What she said back at the lodge. She's right about you."

"What? No."

"She is," Matt insisted.

Emily let out a disbelieving laugh. "You're gonna believe some random girl's mind game over what you know about me?"

"Yeah, because I know you," Matt said.

"How about you stop thinking about that little whore and fix the radio so we can get out of here?" Emily digressed.

Matt snapped. "Is that why you still like Mike? He's a thinker."

"Matt, I don't -."

"I saw you with him!" shouted Matt. "So did Ashley! At least she's honest. She didn't hide it from me when I asked."

"We were just talking," Emily explained.

"You said you were going to talk to Sam," Matt went on. "You know what? I met up with Sam at the lodge long before you came in. And you know what else? You came in behind Jess and Mike."

"And this really isn't the time," Emily tried to dismiss.

"Just tell me what's going on," demanded Matt.

"Nothing, Matt," replied Emily.

Matt took a threatening step forward. "Just admit it!"

Emily backed away from Matt and had the nerve to look sheepish. "I was confused," she tried to deflect.

"So you fucked him!" Matt finished for her.

"Please, Matt, I'm sorry," Emily cried.

Matt shook his head. "No, you're not sorry. You got what you wanted – you've nothing to feel sorry about. I wonder if Jess knows."

"Matt," Emily started.

Matt just glared at her.

A large bang made the three of us jump. We turned around to see the hatch bouncing up and down.

"Oh, my god, he's here, he's coming for me!" Emily started sobbing.

Whatever was on the other side of the hatch tried it again a few more times, then everything was silent. The silence was broken by the sound of the cables snapping. The tower began to tilt.

"Oh, my god, Matt, what is happening?" Emily cried, her voice reaching a pitch only dogs could hear.

The tower shifted and everything started to move to one side.

"Shit!" swore Matt.

Matt and Emily were trying to keep their balance. I didn't need to because I was only observing. This had all happened a few minutes ago.

"Don't move!" Matt yelled to Emily.

The tower fell so it was completely horizontal. Matt had managed to grab something fixed and was dangling, but Emily had fallen and had landed on the window that was now cracking.

"Emily!" Matt yelled to her.

Emily stirred and saw where she was.

The radio came unbolted from the table it was on and fell. Emily turned over and out of the way in time to keep it from hitting her, but it broke through the window. She went tumbling out with it, screaming. She grabbed the first thing she could, the handrail of the observation deck.

The tower fell the rest of the way, landing roof first in a mineshaft and slowly sank down.

Matt had managed to hold on when the tower fell. A few things were on fire, but he could move now that the tower was completely upside down.

"Oh, fuck!" he cried, looking around.

Matt climbed around to the hatch and climbed up.

"Matt! Help me, please!" cried Emily. She was holding on to the handrail still. She managed to pull herself up enough that her feet were perched on the lower rails.

The tower was still shifting in the hole. At any second it could fall the rest of the way down the mineshaft.

"I'm coming!" Matt called, making his way over to her. He looked over the side. "Em, this is pretty unsteady here."

"Matt, you gotta do something right now!" Emily shouted. "What are you waiting for?"

"I'm thinking!" Matt shouted.

"Don't think, you dope! Just get me out of here!" snapped Emily.

Matt took a deep breath. "Emily, you're upset. You need to calm down. You're gonna be fine."

"Just stop talking! I can't take it!"

"Stop yelling at me and let me work this out, okay?" Matt yelled back.

"No, you stop it!" Emily shot back. "Why do you have to question every little thing I say? I'm fucking sick of it!"

Matt growled. "Do you want my help or not?"

"Of course I do, dumbass!" Emily shouted.

"Then shut your face and let me figure out how I'm going to do that! I can't think with you screaming at me!"

Emily flinched in shock and went silent.

Matt checked around to see how he could get to Emily. "Okay," he said, getting himself under control. "I'm going to try to get to you and pull you up."

"Now, will you please get me off this damn tower?" Emily asked. "Please, please, please, please! Please, Matt just do something!"

He noticed there was a landing that connected to the mineshaft.

"Emily, I'm going to jump to the other side," said Matt. "I can get to you from there."

He stood up for his jump, but the tower shifted.

Emily lost her grip and fell to the bottom rung of the handrail. "Shit! Oh, shit! Matt!"

Matt had backed up away from the edge. "I don't wanna tip it."

He took a few seconds to judge his distance and jumped. Just as he did, the tower fell. Matt made it to the ledge, but Emily was gone, her screams echoing in the mineshaft. He turned around and looked down.

"Emily!" he called. "Emily!"

There was no answer.

* * *

 **So not your typical chapter with Tempest playing the main stage, but I had to do something with Matt and Emily. They were feeling a little forgotten.**


	8. 7: Betrayal: 4 Hours Until Dawn

**So last chapter we learned that Emily and Matt were unable to use the radio in the radio tower. And Matt grew a spine! Who knew! With help not on the way, the question is what is Tempest going to do about it.**

* * *

"Tempest? Tempest!"

Someone was shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw Sam's filthy face. "Sam?"

"Oh, thank god," Sam sighed. "I thought you were dead."

I sat up. I was not in the same place I had been hiding. Instead, I was in the basement, tucked back in the corner where Sam had to kick the vent open.

I smiled when I saw Sam's towel. "So much for your bath."

Sam gave a little laugh. "You look cleaner than I do. Where are Chris and Ashley?"

I shook my head. "He got them. He almost got me, too, but I was too fast for him. He didn't kill them, yet. I figured I might be able to figure something out to save them. I don't remember passing out."

"Do you think they're still alive?" she asked.

I looked at my watch. "I think so. I think I was out for only a minute or two."

Sam adjusted the towel she was wearing. "Let's see what we can find."

"I have spare clothes," I offered.

Sam looked at herself. "It's waited this long."

"Okay."

Sam used her flashlight to look around. "We're back in the basement."

We started looking around.

Sam went through a workbench drawer. "Hey, look at this."

I came over to see what she had found. It was a medical file.

JOSHUA WASHINGTON. FINAL PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION. 05/21/2014. DR. A HILL. CONFIDENTIAL.

"Josh was going to a psychiatrist?" Sam whispered. She turned the page.

PHYSICIAN HISTORY. 06/11/2006. JEREMY HARRIS, MD. WHALE POINT SURGERY. REFERRED 04/02/2007 AFTER INCIDENT AT SCHOOL.

04/26/2007. OLIVER PURKIS, MD MPH. PASTORIAL WELLBEING CENTER. REFERRED TO 10/19/2009 AFTER INCIDENT AT SCHOOL.

10/23/2009. ROISI WILLIAMS, MD. SANTA BUENA MEDICAL CENTER. REFERRED 12/09/2009 AFTER DISAGREEMENT OVER TREATMENT.

01/03/2010. SARAH NORTH, MD. PHD. CRANLEIGH HOSPITAL. REFERRED 11/29/2013 AFTER PATIENT'S RESPONSE TO DRUGS TAPERED BADLY.

12/19/2013-PRESENT. ALAN HILL, MD MPH. SOUTH-WESTERN PSYCHIATRY. REFERRED 3/14/2013 DUE TO POTENTIAL SUICIDE RISK.

"He was having mental problems?" Sam asked.

"It would certainly seem that way," I said. "See what meds he was on."

"We've invaded his privacy enough," Sam protested.

I took the file from her.

HISTORY OF PRESCRIBED ANTIDEPRESSANTS.

FLUOXETINE (06/18/2006 – 01/24/2010).

PATIENT REPORTED SIDE EFFECTS (HEADACHE, NAUSEA) WERE BECOMING TOO SEVERE AND WANTED TO CHANGE DRUG.

DULOXETINE (02/13/2010 – 11/01/2013).

PATIENT CLAIMED THAT DRUG WAS NO LONGER HAVING ANY EFFECT. REPORTED THAT HIS MOOD HAD BADLY WORSENED.

AMITRIPYTLINE (11/29/2013 – 04/05/2014).

PATIENT BEGAN SELF-MEDICATING, TAKING STRONGER DOSES.

PHENELZINE (04/15/2014 – PRESENT)

30 MG DOSE. TWICE DAILY INCREASING TO THREE TIMES DAILY AFTER 2 WEEKS.

IF PATIENT REPORTS ANY OF THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS, PLEASE CONTACT A PHYSICIAN IMMEDIATELY.

SIDE EFFECTS: HYPOTENSION, BLURRED VISION, DIZZINESS, INSOMNIA, VOMITING, DIARRHEA, MUSCLE TREMORS, LIVER DAMAGE (HEPATITIS).

ON WITHDRAWAL: NAUSEA, INSOMNIA, NIGHTMARES, AGITATION, HALLUCINATIONS, PARANOIA, AGGRESSIVENESS, SLURRED SPEECH, ATAXIA, CATATONIA, SHOCKS.

"Wow, he's on some strong stuff," I said. "Three times a day he had to take the one thing for."

"He was that sick?" Sam asked. "How did we never notice?"

"From the dates, it only started getting worse this year," I said. "He could be on some stuff for several years, but he switched to three different drugs in almost a year's time."

"That's when Hannah and Beth went missing," Sam noted.

I turned the page.

SUMMARY OF TREATMENT.

PATIENT ARRIVED DELIRIOUS/CONFUSED. STRONG SYMPTOM OF A MAJOR DEPRESSION DISORDER, RELATED TO DEATH/DISAPPEARENCE OF SISTERS.

PLACED PATIENT UNDER OBSERVATION.

ECT WAS CONSIDERED, GIVEN PATIENT'S HISTORY OF TAPERING DRUG EFFECTS, BUT REJECTED.

CBT, IPT, PSYCHOANALYSIS, ECT, FAILED TO PRODUCE ANY IMPROVEMENT.

NEW COURSE OF DRUGS WAS NECESSARY.

PATIENT MOVED TO NON-SELECTIVE MAOI. RATIONALE BEING THAT SSRIS AND SNRIS HAVE PROVEN INEFFECTIVE IN THE PAST.

PHENELZINE 60MG INITIALLY. HIGHER THAN AVERAGE DOSE WAS NECESSARY TO SEE REDUCTION OF SYMPTOMS.

AFTER 2 WEEKS, PATIENT'S SYMPTOMS AND MOOD WERE GREATLY IMPROVED.

DISCHARGED ON MAY 16TH AFTER FINAL CONSULTATION PROVED SATISFACTORY.

DR. ALAN HILL

I whistled. "Good thing the Washingtons have money. My student loans don't add up to this."

Sam looked over my shoulder. "What's on that wall over there?"

"Where?" I turned around.

Sam pointed to where she had climbed out of the vent. On the other side was a bulletin board with some blue prints.

"Probably some prop setups," I answered, but I walked over there anyway. I knew there was a clue. I lifted up one large sheet of paper. "Sam, come here, I need your light."

Sam came over with her flashlight.

It was a drawing of a dummy strung up by the wrists and someone standing behind a board on a box, sticking their head through.

"What is this?" Sam asked.

I shook my head with a small smile on my face. "Pure genius," I whispered.

Sam frowned at me. "What?"

"Josh isn't dead," I told her.

"What? How? I watched him die! I saw the video!"

"And I was there in the shed," I countered. "I knew there was something off from the start. But this, this is just plain genius."

Sam continued to stare at me.

I tapped the blueprints. "Josh wasn't strung up by his wrists, the dummy was. Josh was behind it."

"But the blood," Sam started.

"Chris, Ashley, and I found a makeshift slaughter house downstairs. There were a bunch of pigs butchered, one with its insides cleaned out. Pig organs closely mimic human. To the average person, they would look like they belonged to a human."

"But if Josh is alive, who's the psycho up here?" Sam asked.

I looked at her with a smile.

"No way," said Sam. "Josh?"

"You guys were never in any real danger," I said.

"But he terrorized me! Chased me into the basement! How is that not any real danger?"

"Sam, I don't think he was intentionally trying to hurt anyone," I told her. "I think this was all for scare."

"Then where the hell are Chris and Ashley?" asked Sam.

"Dunno, but this looks like his workshop in a way. Maybe we can find something telling us where he took them."

We left the bulletin board with the blueprints and continued to search the basement.

"Hey, I found a phone," said Sam. She picked it up from a shelf. "There's a conversation open. The messages are from last month from a Dr. Hill. Isn't that one of the names in Josh's medical file?"

"Yeah," I replied.

Sam scrolled through them. "Josh was planning something and he told Dr. Hill. Dr. Hill wanted him to come in and was worried that he stopped taking his meds."

"If he stopped taking his meds, we could be in serious trouble," I told her. "Withdrawal is nasty on Phenelzine."

"How bad?" Sam asked me.

"Paranoia, hallucinations, hypotension, catatonia, it's a long list," I replied.

"Then if Josh is still alive," Sam started.

"I'm pretty sure he is," I interrupted.

"Then we got to find him," she finished.

I looked at Josh's phone. "Can I see that?"

Sam handed me the phone.

I started typing a message.

"Tempest, I hate to break it to you, but we have no reception up here," Sam pointed out.

"Oh, ye of little faith," I said. "Josh could be in serious health trouble. I'm worried he may hurt himself or someone else."

"I thought you said that we weren't in any real danger."

"He doesn't have the intention of hurting us," I repeated. "But one of those withdrawal symptoms was aggression."

"Good point," Sam agreed. "If you can get a message to the rangers, they could come get us." She looked over my shoulder to see what I was typing.

WE R STUCK ON MT. WASHINGTON W/ JOSH. POSSIBLE WITHDRAWAL FROM PHENELZINE. HELP.

"Not much for the rangers to go on," said Sam.

"I'm not sending it to the rangers," I told her. "I'm sending it to his doctor."

"Why?"

"His doctor knows about whatever plan Josh was talking about," I replied. "Dr. Hill probably knows all the details. We may only have one shot at sending a message; let's be sure it makes it to someone who understands it."

My finger hovered over the send button. At the moment, there was no reception.

"Say a prayer," I told her. I held the phone up and started moving to get a signal.

This was a good time to manipulate the story. I just hoped I wouldn't lose ten minutes and miss something. I just needed one bar.

One bar popped up. I froze where I was and hit send.

SENDING . . . SENDING . . . SENT.

"Yes!" I cheered.

"Did it go through?" asked Sam.

"Yeah," I replied. "It went through. Hopefully he'll get the message soon."

Sam sighed. "Now let's find Chris and Ashley."

I tucked the phone in my pocket just in case we managed to get another signal. No sooner did I put the phone in my pocket, it buzzed.

JOSH, WHAT IS GOING ON?

Dr. Hill got our message.

I texted back.

MY NAME IS TEMPEST. WE CAN'T FIND JOSH. 2 FRIENDS MISSING 2. UR 1ST PERSON WE MANAGED 2 REACH. ALL OTHER COMM DOWN.

A few seconds later: ARE YOU HURT? IS ANYONE HURT?

SCARED, BUT UNHARMED 4 MOST PART. 2 WENT 2 GET HELP. DON'T KNO WHERE THEY R NOW. 2 MISSING. JOSH MISSING. 2 AT OTHER CABIN.

"Whoa, creep city," I heard Sam say. "Tempest? Where are you?"

I hadn't noticed that Sam had moved on. I wasn't missing time, but she had gotten ahead of me. I came around the corner and saw she had found a remembrance board to the Washington twins.

I tapped her shoulder. "He got our message."

"Thank god," breathed Sam. "What did he say?"

"He asked if we were okay," I said. "I told him we were split up and weren't sure where everyone was. He hasn't gotten back to me."

I looked down at the phone. It had no reception again.

"Guess we're on our own for now," Sam said, seeing we had no reception.

"I think if we get upstairs, we can get a better signal."

"You're probably right. Come on. We need to find Chris and Ashley."

We went down another set of stairs. At the bottom was a door. Sam peered through the slot and gasped.

"I saw him," she whispered. "He went into another room."

"We better catch up with him," I whispered back. "I think Chris and Ashley may be nearby."

We made a left turn and continued.

"Hey!" Sam pointed to a table. There was a tape recorded sitting on it. "This looks a little out of place."

I nodded at her to hit the play button.

"Hello. And thank you all for joining me," came the psycho's voice. "Tonight we're gonna conduct a little experiment."

"Hello. Hello, children." The voice changed. It sounded much more like Josh's. "No, that's not right. Greetings, pilgrims!"

Sam turned it off. "Holy shit!" she whispered.

"You okay?" I asked her.

"No, I'm not okay," Sam answered. "I know you said it was Josh, but hearing it . . ."

I pressed my lips together and nodded. "Just makes it sink in, doesn't it?"

"Yeah. I was hoping you were wrong about all this," Sam admitted. "Part of me wanted Josh to be dead and this psycho to be someone else completely."

We took a different set of stairs up.

"This looks familiar," I told her.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was just here." I pointed to a set of double doors. "We thought we heard you in there. That's where Josh grabbed Chris and Ashley."

Sam looked at the doors suspiciously. "Should we go in?"

"If nothing else has been moved, your clothes are in there."

Sam frowned.

I reached for something to defend us with. I checked my belt and found that I still had the kitchen knife. I held it up for Sam to see.

"Oh, good, you're armed," she said with a sigh of relief. "I hope you won't have to use that."

Sam opened the door and shined her light in. "All's quiet."

"Go slow," I whispered.

We let the door close behind us.

Sam noticed the chair in the dark and went over to it. The dummy was still sitting there in her clothes.

"Oh, god," she whispered in horror.

I noticed something else that I hadn't the first time I was here. "Hey."

Sam looked at me and I nodded in the direction of the camera set up.

"He's been filming us?" Sam hissed. "Ugh, I shouldn't be surprised. He had video of me in the tub."

"They have to be close," I said. "This is where he jumped up. I think there's another door here somewhere. He didn't come in the same way we did."

I went to my left. "I think it's over here."

My leg was grabbed!

I managed to stifle my scream and keep myself from tripping. There was a hand coming through the bars of an old vent.

Sam turned her light to the bars. "Mike! What are you doing down there?"

"It's okay," Mike whispered. "It's okay. You're okay?"

Sam and I knelt down so we could see him better.

"Where's Jessica?" asked Sam. "She not with you?"

Mike put his head down. "Jessica is dead."

"What?" Sam whisper-cried.

"He killed her, Sam," Mike explained. "There's some maniac on the mountain who's trying to kill us, all of us, and so help me when everyone is safe and accounted for, I'm gonna hunt this fucker down and rip his nuts off one at a fucking time."

Sam shook her head. "This guy you are talking about, it's Josh."

"What?" Mike whisper-shouted. "Josh? Why?"

"I don't know," Sam replied. "Tempest and I found some things down here that point him out to be the maniac."

"I'm gonna kill him," Mike vowed.

"Wait," I said. "How can it be Josh? He's been here at the lodge terrorizing us for last four hours. How could he have gotten up to where you and Jess were?"

"He must have hired someone," said Mike.

"Mike, I don't think it was Josh," I repeated.

"I don't care!" snapped Mike. "All I know is Jessica is dead and I saw the guy who did it. I followed him up the mountain to the sanatorium. I saw him, Tempest!"

"Oh, crap," I groaned.

Sam decided to defuse the situation. "I don't know what's going on for sure. All we know is that we found a message from Josh's doctor mentioning a plan and that it was a bad idea. And Tempest and I found a camera."

"Two," I corrected. "I found one when I was with Chris and Ashley. I didn't tell them about it."

"What the fuck is going on around here?" Mike asked, voicing the question that was on everyone's mind. "There's a door here. It won't open. Can you two unlock it from the other side?"

"Yeah," I replied.

We stood up and Sam reached for the handle.

"My bag!" she whispered. Her backpack was hanging off the handle. She picked it up and slung it over one shoulder.

Sam opened the door and we went downstairs. The door Mike was talking about was barred on our side. It took Sam and me to move the bar.

I opened the door and we found Mike on the other side.

"Hey," said Mike.

Sam and I went in and I pushed the door shut behind us.

"Geez, you look like hell!" exclaimed Sam.

Mike looked down at himself. "Nice to see you, too."

I noticed Mike was not wearing the same jacket he had on at the lodge, but a filthy looking tan one with some sort of logo on the sleeve.

Sam went over to some shelves and put her bag down.

"What are you doing?" Mike asked.

"Well, actually the towel didn't turn out to be the best outfit for fighting off killer maniacs, you know?" Sam quipped. "Do you mind, Mike?"

Mike quickly turned around.

I got the antiseptic and gauze out of my bag. "Here, clean yourself up a little, Sam."

"Thanks."

I turned to Mike. "Where did you get that jacket?"

"I found it," Mike replied. He shook his head. "This is so messed up."

"I know," I told him. "Look, Mike, I know this probably isn't the best time, but what happened to Jess, exactly?"

"She's dead, that's what!" hissed Mike.

"Mike." I glared at him. "So you've said. How did she die? Did you make it to the other cabin?"

Mike sighed. "Yeah, we made it. There was a bear and we ran to the cabin. Jess lost her phone, but then we found it in the cabin after that maniac threw it through the window. She stormed out and started shouting, thinking it was one of you guys messing with us. She came back in and . . ."

"And what, Mike?"

"He pulled her through the window, just like that," Mike answered. He shook his head. "I couldn't do anything, I couldn't catch him or line up a shot to shoot him. What?"

I must have had a confused look on my face, which was what I was going for. "Don't worry about it right now, just a thought. Did you ever catch up with him?"

"No," Mike replied. "But I found Jess. He left her in the mines on top of an elevator. I tried to help her, but the elevator fell."

"So she was alive when you last saw her?" I asked.

Mike nodded. "There's no way she could have survived that drop. Even if she did, she was bleeding so much."

I put my hand on his shoulder. "Mike, I heard of people surviving when they shouldn't have. Heck, I've seen it. How about we keep the thought that we don't consider her dead until we find a body?"

Mike shook his head and snorted. "If only we could be as optimistic as you, Tempest."

"Done," said Sam, fixing her red sweatshirt. She had changed into her workout clothes. She was probably going to be cold, but she was wearing more than a towel now.

"You sure you don't want some other pants?" I asked. "I can spare a pair."

"No, let's just put this thing to bed," said Sam.

"Amen to that," Mike added.

The three of us went silent when we noticed a muffled crying sound.

"What was that?" Sam asked.

The sound persisted.

"Is that crying?" asked Matt.

We ran out of the room and across the hall. The sounds were coming from the other side along with something else.

"I know that sound," I said.

"What is it?" Sam asked me.

"A saw," I replied.

Sam and Mike looked horrified and broke the door down.

There was only one area of the room that was lit up. Chris and Ashley were sitting at a table and a large circular saw blade was slowly moving down above each of their heads. There was a gun between them on the table.

The saws stopped and went back up to the ceiling. Out of the shadows came the psycho.

"No! Get away!" sobbed Ashley.

Chris grabbed the gun and fired at the psycho three times. It did nothing.

"Oh, Chris," said the psycho with a shake of his head. "Oh, Chris, Chris, Chris, Chris."

"What the fuck?" Chris asked, looking at the gun.

"Well, you've heard of blanks before," said the psycho, walking around the table. "I mean, really?"

He reached up and took of his mask.

It was Josh.

"Josh!" Sam called out.

"Josh?" Chris questioned in disbelief.

Sam ran over to Ashley and tried to get her restraints off. Mike did the same with Chris. I took a moment to check Ashley's black eye. It could use some ice, but it wasn't swollen shut.

Josh burst out laughing. "Oh, very good! Everybody, you got my name. And after all you've been through, good. Good, good, good. I mean, how does that feel? Right? How does it feel? Do you enjoy feeling terrorized, humiliated, I mean, panicked? All those emotions that my sisters got to feel once one year ago? Only guess what, they didn't get to laugh it off, no! Nope, no, no, no! They're gone!"

"I don't know if you noticed, Josh, but none of us are laughing," Mike pointed out.

"Oh, come. Come, come, come, come, come," said Josh. He was completely manic. "Why the long faces?" he taunted, taking a few steps back. "Come on. It's good to get the heart racing every now and then, right? And race they did. I mean just every one of you pitter-pat, pitter-pat. I hope you appreciated my little phantasmagorical spectacle. I mean, no detail too small! No opportunity missed! It was such a delight to play the puppet master to all of your Pavlovian panic! And all that gore? There was gore galore! And fake bodies . . . I mean, god, that shit was expensive. And no retakes, no, no, no, only double takes! Oh, you should have seen your faces! Hook, line, and sinker for every little stinker!"

"Josh, why are you doing this?" Sam asked.

"Don't even ask this squirrely little runt!" Mike snapped at Sam. "He's got no clue. He's out of his fucking tree!"

Chris nodded. "He's definitely off his meds."

"Oh, come on, guys!" said Josh. "Revenge is the best medicine!"

"You're done!" snarled Mike.

"Mike, he's sick!" Chris defended.

Josh frowned a little. "What? Come on. You guys are all gonna thank me when you guys become internet sensations."

"Wait, what?" asked Chris.

"He means he's recorded this entire horror show," I told them. The friends stared at me. "I found a couple of the cameras."

"And you can bet this little puppy is going viral, ladies and germs," Josh continued. "We've got unrequited love. We got blood. We got betrayal, and I seriously didn't see that one coming, Chris. Shame on you. I don't think there's enough hard drives in China to count all the views we're gonna get, you guys!"

"What are you talking about, you asshat?" yelled Mike. "Jessica is fucking dead!"

"Mike, stop!" I quickly ordered.

"What?" whispered Josh.

"Did you hear me?" Mike made his way around the table. "Jessica is dead. And you are gonna fucking pay, you dick!"

I ran between the two to keep Mike from striking Josh. However, I caught part of the blow. It wasn't hard, but it was enough for me to notice I was hit.

"Stop, both of you," I told them, looking from Mike and Josh. "What we are going to do is we are going to go upstairs and get some ice for Ashley's eye before it gets any worse. Then we are going to sit in the great room and figure out what we are going to do next. Emily and Matt took the cable car down to my get my car to get into town to get help."

"They're not gonna make it," Josh interrupted. "I disabled the cable car."

"You what?" cried Sam. "If any of us got hurt, how were we going to get help in time?"

Josh gestured with his hand for her not to worry about it. "No one was going to get hurt. Everything was rigged. I made sure of it. So even when a certain somebody decided to sacrifice the girl he liked for his best friend, the blade would always choose the best friend."

Crap!

I turned to Ashley, who was staring at Chris. Chris was watching Josh, unable to face Ashley.

"Chris," Ashley said slowly. "What is he talking about?"

Chris winced. "I can explain."

Josh cackled. "Yes, Chris, explain while you decided to cut your girlfriend in half!"

Ashley paled. "Chris?" she whimpered. "You didn't."

I sighed. This was a headache I didn't need. I already had one from where Mike hit me.

"Ash," Chris started.

"How could you?" Ashley screamed.

I groaned. I could almost see the "You Earned a Trophy: Fatal Grudge" flashing above our heads.

"Whoops!" Josh smiled. "Did I say that out loud?"

This time Mike did hit him and knocked Josh out.

I turned to Mike. "Was that really necessary?" I asked flatly.

"Made me feel a little better," Mike answered. "We better get him tied up somewhere where he won't hurt someone else."

"Or himself," I added. "Sam and I found his medical file. The meds he's on, the ones he's off of, have some nasty side effects when on withdrawal. Someone's going to have to keep an eye on him."

"We'll figure something out," Sam assured me.

"Tempest?" Ashley called softly.

I turned to her. "What, Ashley?"

"You're bleeding," she replied.

I frowned. "No, I'm not."

"Tempest." Sam leaned around to look at me. "Yeah, you're bleeding." She motioned to her own nose.

I checked it and found I had a bloody nose.

Mike turned me around. "I thought I didn't hit you that hard."

"You didn't and not in the face, either," I confirmed.

"You feeling okay?" asked Chris.

"I have a headache," I replied. "But that only started when Mike hit me."

"Shit!" Mike hissed.

"Mike, it's probably stress," I told him. "I'm fine."

Sam took my arm. "Let's get you upstairs."

Mike went over to Josh and searched his pockets. He found the key to the restraints and unlocked Ashley and Chris. "Let's go. Chris, give me a hand, would you?"

"Uh, sure," said Chris.

Mike and Chris stayed with Josh and Sam and Ashley steered me upstairs.

"I'm fine," I kept telling them.

Sam and Ashley made me sit down in the great room. "I'll get a towel for her." Sam dashed off to the kitchen.

Ashley sat next to me on the couch. "Why didn't you say anything about the cameras? Or Chris in the shed?"

I shook my head. "It wasn't relevant at the time. You two were already stressed out with Josh's 'ghosts' that I didn't want to add the cameras to the mix. And as for the shed, I did confront Chris about that."

"What did he say?" Ashley pressed.

I sighed. "I don't think you'll like his answer. To him, it makes sense, but to somebody else, it's probably going to sound cruel. I'll let him tell you. I only ask that you put yourself in his shoes. When I really thought about it, I probably would have come up with a similar reason."

Sam came back with the towel and held it to my nose.

"Sam, I can hold it," I told her, brushing her hand away.

Sam sat on my other side. "I didn't think Mike swung that hard."

"He didn't." I touched where he hit me. "There's not even a bump."

I took the towel away.

Sam and Ashley checked it for me.

"It's still really bleeding," said Sam.

"We need to get you to a doctor," Ashley added.

I put the towel back. "It'll stop."

 _Emily let out a yelp as she was shot through the eye._

"Tempest?" Sam gave my shoulder a shake. "You okay?"

I winced. My headache was much worse now. "Think so. I think I want to lay down."

"Not with a bloody nose," said Sam.

"Just prop me up. I just want to put my head down."

Sam moved some pillows to keep my head up. "Ashley, stay with her and make sure she stays awake. I'm going to check on the guys."

I put my head down. "Ashley, I'm going to close my eyes for a few minutes."

"But Sam said," Ashley started to argue.

"I know," I interrupted. "But it's not that bad. I just need a few minutes."

Ashley nodded.

I closed my eyes. Now I just had to wait.

* * *

The sound of liquid being poured into a glass got my attention. I was leaning back in the chair in Dr. Hill's office. He was pouring a glass of alcohol.

"Aren't doctors not supposed to drink on the job?" I asked.

Dr. Hill smirked. "I thought you would like to celebrate."

I sat up. "A little early, don't you think?"

"Maybe," Dr. Hill replied. "But I think you could use the alcohol." He passed me the glass.

I took the glass. "Really shouldn't have this." I held the glass and didn't take a drink. "Something's screwed up and I didn't do it." I sighed.

"And how are you going to fix it?" asked Dr. Hill.

I shook my head. "This is one thing I can't fix."

"Perhaps you don't need to fix it. Perhaps you just need to change the outcome."

If what happened downstairs triggered the "Fatal Grudge" decision for Ashley, I would need a way to keep Chris alive. It shouldn't be a problem if Josh wasn't taken out to the shed.

"Which could be a problem," Dr. Hill added to my thought.

I frowned at him.

"This is in your head," Dr. Hill reminded me. "And you were talking out loud. But you're not there to keep them from putting Josh out in the shed."

"There's a chance they won't put him out there and that's what I was trying to do. If they do put him out there, I'll come up with something."

"You always do," said Dr. Hill. "But will they trust you? You did keep things from them."

"I already explained that to them," I answered. "Whether they accept that is up to them."

Dr. Hill hummed. "You've been conservative with your manipulation power lately."

"That's because the last time I used it, I lost ten minutes. I can't manipulate with a Wendigo chasing me."

"Then you must be careful who and what you manipulate," Dr. Hill told me. "What you can afford to change at moment's notice. What you can manipulate. And what you can break."

"What?"

"Canon breaking."

"That's dangerous," I said immediately.

"You do what you must."

Canon breaking: the act of a plot or character changing into something completely different from the original story. There was a lot that could count as canon breaking, which could include me being in the original story, but that was minor. My missions were canon breaking, but it was done in such a way that it was plausible in the original story.

"Now, may I suggest finishing your drink and getting back?" inquired Dr. Hill.

I downed the small amount of liquid in the glass. I almost choked on it. "Cranberry juice?"

Dr. Hill was amused. "Did you really think I would give you alcohol?"

I rolled my eyes and let everything go black.

* * *

 **Okay, they got the message out, but how long is it going to take for help to arrive. And is Tempest going to have to deal with a "Fatal Grudge" Ashley? Could be fun. And canon breaking: we'll see what Tempest decides to do with that option on the table. They only have about three hours until dawn now. Wonder how they're going to use it.**


	9. 8: Wendigo: 3 Hours Until Dawn

**Okay, here's the next chapter. DarkDust27, love that you love my story, but you're going to have to wait a little for the next chapter. This is what I have for Lucid Dream, I mean all I have at the moment. Chapter 9 hasn't even been started yet. Sorry, but maybe you'll have something nice for turkey day, but I make no promises there. I did rush to edit this, so if I screwed something up, let me know.**

* * *

I glanced over and saw Ashley sitting in a chair with a bag of peas on her eye. Sam was sitting close by, watching me.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," I replied. "I just needed to close my eyes for a few minutes. Where's everyone else?"

"Mike and Chris took Josh out to the shed," said Sam.

I sat up. "What? Why?"

"Why not?" spat Ashley. "After what he did, he deserves to be put in prison so he doesn't hurt anybody else."

I sighed. "I wanted him in the lodge because of the side effects of his meds. We need to keep him calm."

"He hit me!" cried Ashley.

"Because one of the side effects is aggression," I pointed out. "He's not in full control of himself."

"Well, he was in full control of himself when he set this up," Ashley argued.

"I'm not denying that," I countered. "But right now, he is very vulnerable. I'd rather have him tied up in the basement than out in the shed. At least we wouldn't have to go far to check on him."

"I don't want to be near that creep!" yelled Ashley.

Sam got in between us. "Hey, this is not the time. We need to focus on getting off the mountain. Now that we know we're not being chased by a psychopath, we don't have to rush so much."

I could have laughed in her face right then.

"Besides, someone does know we're up here," Sam continued. "We managed to get cell service long enough to get a message out."

"That's great," said Ashley. "Did they say when they're coming to get us?"

Sam looked at me. I was the one with Josh's phone after all. I took it out of my pocket and checked it.

"Still no messages and I don't have service right now," I answered. I looked out the window. "And this storm is not helping anything. They'd have to wait until after it passes to get to us."

Ashley moaned.

I looked at my rings. I saw that my red butterfly had a third twinkle.

 _A Wendigo stuck its hand through the wall and tried to grab Mike, but Mike ducked out of the way._

The vision didn't make my head pound and my headache was gone. I stood up.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked, jumping up as well.

"I'm going to the bathroom," I replied. "Do you want to hold my hand?"

Sam put her hands up. "No, thanks. I don't know you that well."

"Hey, I'll yell if I fall," I responded and went over to the nearest bathroom, taking my bag with me.

In the bathroom, I raided the cabinets again for medical supplies. I got more gauze and bandages and found some antibiotic ointment. There were wraps for sprained joints. I took those, too.

 _Mike turned away with the gun in his hand._

I glanced at my watch. 4:05. Things were about to get gnarly soon. I maybe had about twenty minutes to plan for the worst.

When I came back, Chris had come inside from the shed.

"How's Josh?" I asked.

Chris shook his head. "Not so good. He's just babbling and not really making any sense. I've never seen him like this before, Tempest."

I put my hand on his arm. "It's okay, Chris. We'll get out of here and he'll get help."

"Yeah. Do you think Matt and Emily are okay?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I don't know. Whatever Josh did to the cable car, it would've had to be temporary so we could get down later. They may have gotten it working. I told them where my car was and where the spare key was. They could be in town already."

Chris scoffed. "Figures."

"What does?"

"Emily will save her own skin and Matt will go along with whatever she says," Chris explained. "She's like that."

"I know," I said with a smile.

Chris chuckled. "Yeah, you called her out on it."

"So how are things with you and Ashley?" I asked.

Chris's smile vanished. "Not good. She won't talk to me and she just glares."

"She'll come around," I assured.

"I hope you're right," said Chris.

I went to talk to Ashley next.

"Have you talked to Chris yet?" I asked her.

"You were just talking to him. What do you think?" she snapped.

"I will take that as a no," I replied.

Ashley snorted. "You're damn right. What did I ever do to him to make him want to kill me?"

"His reasons are for you to ask him about, not me," I told her.

"Yeah, because you've been so helpful before," she said sarcastically.

I sighed. "Ashley, I know we don't get along, but can we at least try to be civil to each other?"

Ashley glared.

"I'm not trying to steal Chris from you," I told her. "You don't need to feel so threatened by me."

Ashley shook her head. "Of course I do! You make sense to him. He respects what you have to say. He doesn't dismiss you because what you say sounds crazy. You don't sound crazy – you're logical. I say I saw a ghost and he says there's no such thing. You back him up, he backs you up, and I'm left wondering if anybody's going to listen to me when there really is something wrong. Okay, I accept that Josh made that ghost up. But what happens when there is a real danger and I see it, but no one believes me?"

I shook my head. "I don't know what to tell you, Ashley. That's for you to figure out. But it helps if you don't get all hysteric straight off the bat."

Ashely winced, knowing that she did a lot of screaming in the old hotel.

"But seriously, go talk to Chris," I told her.

"Okay," she said quietly and went over to Chris.

Sam came over to me. "So what's going on between those two and you?"

"A misunderstanding that needs to be addressed and fixed," I replied. "And it has to start with them."

"Do you think that Dr. Hill is sending us help?" Sam asked.

"I'm sure he is," I replied. "He may not have been able to say anything under doctor/patient privilege, but we aren't his patients. He can tell someone that we need help and they can come and get us."

"So because Josh was his patient, he couldn't tell anybody that he was off his meds and possibly trying to kill us?" asked Sam.

I nodded. "More or less. Josh is a legal adult. Dr. Hill can't even tell his parents."

Sam sighed. "What do you think is going to happen to Josh?"

I shook my head. "At this point, he's going to have to be committed. He's off his meds. We don't know how long, but long enough for him to start showing symptoms of withdrawal."

"I never thought I would see him like this," Sam commented.

"I don't think Chris has seen him this bad," I added.

"Do you think Chris knew about Josh having problems?" Sam asked.

"I think he knew he was on some sort of antidepressant, but didn't know how bad his condition was," I replied. "And Josh probably didn't tell him that he had gotten worse after his sisters disappeared."

Sam and I looked over at Chris and Ashley. We couldn't hear what they were saying, but both were gesturing with their hands. Ashley looked very upset and Chris was getting frustrated.

"Fine!" they both yelled at each other and walked away.

My mouth twisted. "Well, that seemed to have gone well."

Someone started banging on the outside door. "Let me in! Let me in!"

"It's Em!" cried Sam.

"Let her in quick!" Chris called.

The four of us ran for the front door. Chris made it to the door first and opened it.

Emily tripped through the doorway and landed on the floor. "Shut the door!" she yelled, crawling while Ashley and Sam pulled her way from the door. "Oh, my god, shut the door!"

Chris shut and locked the door.

Ashley and Sam got Emily to her feet and led her back to the great room.

"Em, are you all right?" Chris asked.

"I didn't think that I'd make it," Emily told us.

"You were screaming bloody murder," Chris let her know.

"Are you okay?" asked Sam.

"You look totally wiped," said Ashley.

"There was something!" Emily cried.

"Where's Matt?" asked Ashley.

"Come sit down! Sit down!" Sam told her.

Sam and Ashley got Emily to the couch.

"Something's out there!" Emily went on.

"Did you guys split up?" Ashley asked.

"A monster!" Emily finally said. "It's a monster!"

"Wait," said Chris. "What are you talking about?"

"I said there's something out there," Emily repeated more clearly.

"Like what?" asked Ashley.

"Relax," Sam told Emily. "It was Josh. It was all Josh."

Emily shook her head. "No, no, no, no! Listen to me!"

"We got him tied up," Sam went on. "He can't hurt you."

"No! It was after me!" Emily insisted. "And it wasn't human."

"Hold on," said Chris. "Wait, Em. Where's Matt? Is he okay?"

Emily got up from the couch. "I don't want to talk about that fucking sack of shit," she said angrily, beginning to pace.

"Wow," muttered Chris.

"He left me," said Emily. "He fucking abandoned me when I was hanging off that damn tower about to die."

"What tower?" asked Sam.

"And then I fell into this terrifying freaking mineshaft and he was just gone!" Emily continued, disregarding Sam's question.

"Whoa, what mineshaft?" Chris asked her.

Emily sat back down on the couch. "I was walking down there in the mines and it was dark and I found this pile and there was Beth's head."

"Wait, what?" Chris asked, his voice going up an octave.

"Beth's head," Emily repeated. "I found it."

"Oh, my god," Ashley moaned.

"What the fuck?" Chris asked in disbelief.

"Are you serious?" Sam asked Emily.

Emily nodded. "Yes, I'm serious! I think they fell down there."

Chris muttered something under his breath that I didn't quite catch.

"But worst thing is I don't think that Hannah died, like, from the fall, not right away," Emily added.

"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Ashley.

"I don't know," said Emily. "I feel like she was down there, like, starving to death for weeks when we were all up here looking for her. We had no idea."

"Geez, that's horrible," Chris murmured.

The backdoor opened and closed and I could hear someone running in from the back.

"Listen," said Emily. "When we got to the tower, there was a radio, but we couldn't get a message through before the tower collapsed."

Mike came sliding in to the room. "Em!" He gave her a hug. "You made it."

"Oh, god, Mike!" Emily cried in relief.

"Yeah, barely," Chris added.

Mike looked at the group. "What about Matt?"

"We're trying to figure that out," said Ashley.

"And there was this 'monster' that was chasing her . . ." Chris told him.

Mike looked at Emily. "She's all messed up, guys. Emily? Hey, Em?"

There was a knock on the door leading out to the deck.

"Whoa!" muttered Chris.

Mike glanced over at Chris. "Who the fuck could that be?" he whispered.

"Josh?" Ashley guessed.

"Jess?" Chris guessed.

"It's not Jess," Mike said.

"Sorry, man, but who is it?" Chris asked.

"I don't know!" Mike hissed. "We should check it out."

Chris tapped Mike's shoulder. "I got your back."

"Good," whispered Mike.

I got the kitchen knife out. "Same here."

Mike, Chris, and I went to the front door. We could see someone standing at the door through the slats of the blinds. Mike readied his gun.

"Okay," said Chris. "I'm going to open the door. Are you ready?"

Mike hummed the affirmative.

I held up the kitchen knife and my other hand up as a guard.

Chris asked again. "You ready?"

"Just do it already!" snapped Mike. "Whoever it is is probably gone by now."

"Unless you want me to take the gun," Chris stalled.

"No, no, no," said Mike. "I think that's less good. You get the door. I got the gun."

Chris stepped forward and opened the door. The door was immediately kicked in and Chris found himself on the floor again. "Shit! Shit!"

"Ah – hold on!" Mike told the man. "Hold on there! Hold on there, mister. Freeze!"

The man reached forward and twisted the gun out of Mike's hand.

Mike and Chris immediately retreated.

"All right, all right," Mike said with his hands up. "Just take it easy, grandpa."

The man came into the light. He was an older man, blind in one eye with a scar. On his back was his flamethrower equipment and around his neck were his goggles and bandana. "Okay, everybody, just calm down." He put Mike's gun on the table.

I closed the open door. That was the first he noticed me. He motioned for me to join Mike and Chris. "Just move over there. Go on, move!" He steered us back to the great room. "Let me say what I came here to say!"

The girls gasped in fear when they saw Stranger.

He snarled. "I'm here to tell you what you're up against being back on this mountain. You should never have returned. I don't know why you did after what happened last year." He dropped his rucksack on the floor.

"You mean with Hannah and Beth?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, how could you know without being involved?" Chris asked.

"Or responsible," Sam added.

Stranger turned to us. "You hold onto your horses. I don't take kindly to you kids coming up here to my mountain -."

"Your mountain?" Mike questioned. "I'm sure the Washingtons will be very surprised to hear that."

Stranger laughed. "Well, the mountain don't belong to me, it's true. But it don't belong to the Washingtons. This mountain belongs to the Wendigo."

Chris laughed. "Who?"

"What's he talking about?" whispered Sam.

"What the hell's a Wendigo?" Mike asked.

I put my hand to my head. "Oh god," I whispered in despair.

"What?" Chris asked me.

"I was really hoping it was a story and nothing more," I muttered, pretending like I didn't really know there were a bunch here.

"Let's hear him out," said Sam.

Mike shrugged. "Not like we have a choice."

"Now I'm only going to tell you this once," said Stranger. "It doesn't matter to me if you believe it or not. I got reason I want it to . . . get it off my chest."

"See?" said Mike. "I told you. He's guilty as shit. Guilty of something."

"Mike, shut up," I told him.

Stranger paid no attention to Mike. "There is a curse that dwells in these mountains. Should any man or woman resort to cannibalism in these woods, the spirit of the Wendigo shall be unleashed."

"Oh, crap!" muttered Mike. I noticed him looking down at his feet with a pale expression. He had seen it and he remembered.

"You're gonna need to find somewhere safe," said Stranger.

"The basement might be okay," Sam suggested.

"Okay," said Stranger. "Get down there. Now. All of you and wait."

"What?" asked Sam. "Why? For how long?"

"Until dawn at the least," said Stranger.

"Guys." We all turned to Mike. "I ran off and left Josh when I heard screaming."

"Where did you leave him?" Stranger asked.

"In the shed," replied Mike.

Stranger hummed. "Ah, your friend will already be dead."

Chris wasn't about to accept that. "No." He stood up. "No, he can't be. We were just with him."

Stranger shook his head. "A lot can happen quickly on this mountain."

"No," Chris refused. "I'm gonna go get him."

"You can't go out there, Chris!" Ashley told him.

"I'm supposed to be his best friend," Chris argued. "And I let him down."

"No, he let you down, Chris," countered Ashley. "He let all of us down."

"I don't care," said Chris. "I'm going to get him."

"Then I'll go with you," said Stranger.

"I don't need your help," Chris told him.

"Going alone is suicide," Stranger said.

"Fine," conceded Chris.

Stranger looked at the rest of us. "The rest of you, get down to the basement. Be safe. And don't go outside again until we're back."

Stranger turned to Chris. "You don't seem to understand the magnitude of the situation."

"Well, I'm going to get Josh, aren't I?" Chris said defiantly.

"No, I'm going to get Josh," Stranger corrected. "You're going to help me. Do you understand?"

"Uh, yeah . . . I think so," muttered Chris.

"You need to follow me," said Stranger. "And do everything I tell you."

"I'm coming with you," I told them.

"Oh, no, you're not," Stranger disagreed. "I already have to look after one kid."

"Josh isn't exactly in his right mind," I explained. "I'm hoping that he'll listen to me."

Stranger grunted. "So you're his girlfriend."

"Oh, no, I'm just a stranded motorist," I quipped. "Can someone please take my bag downstairs with them?"

Sam held her hand out for it. I took my bag off my shoulder and handed it to her.

Chris, Stranger, and I walked to the backdoor.

Stranger took the shotgun holstered on his flamethrower pack and handed it to Chris. "This is the end you point towards the thing you want to kill." He pointed to the barrel.

"I know how to use a shotgun, man," said Chris.

"No, you don't," said Stranger.

"What?" asked Chris. "How do you know?"

"Trust me," said Stranger. "I know."

Stranger turned to me. "And you've probably never held a gun."

"You don't worry about me," I told him. "I can take care of myself."

Stranger opened the door and stepped out.

Chris looked over his shoulder. I turned, too. Ashley was standing in the hallway, watching us. She didn't say anything.

I smiled at Ashley. "We'll be back before you know it," I told her. "Could you close and lock the door behind us?"

"Yeah," she said quietly.

We stepped outside. Ashley closed the door behind us so hard it could be considered slamming. I heard her lock the door like I told her.

I knew this was not going to be fun. She didn't kiss Chris or wish him luck. This was probably going to play out like "Fatal Grudge".

"So, what's a guy gotta know?" Chris asked Stranger.

"You just be careful," replied Stranger. "You follow my lead."

We started down the stairs and onto the path to the shed.

"So how many times do I have to shoot it with the shotgun before it's dead?" asked Chris.

"Well, you'll be shooting it a long time," Stranger answered.

"You mean this thing won't even kill it?" exclaimed Chris.

"No, but it'll slow it down," Stranger elaborated.

"How do you kill it?" Chris tried to get out of Stranger.

"Their only weakness is fire."

Chris and Stranger looked at me.

"I was out here learning about the Native American legends," I told Stranger.

"You knew this thing was out here?" Chris asked, his voice rising.

"I didn't think it was actually real," I lied. "I figured I was only going to get some interesting stories for that part of my paper."

Chris let out a laugh. "You wanted to find the grain of truth. There it is."

"Yeah," I sighed. "Not what I had in mind."

"She's right," said Stranger. "Their skin is like tough armor. You need to burn it off first."

"That's gross!" Chris whispered to me.

"I can come up with worse," I whispered back.

Chris gave me a funny look and returned his attention to Stranger. "What are these things like? I mean, are they just crazy unpredictable? Can you figure out what they're gonna do?"

"Well, they adhere to some patterns like any animal or human," said Stranger.

"Like how?" asked Chris. "Do they have schedules?"

"Well, they only hunt at night," Stranger said.

"Oh, why?" asked Chris.

"I didn't ask," answered Stranger.

We were quiet for a moment.

"Any pro Wendigo tips?" Chris asked. "Like if I rubbed garlic all over myself they won't smell me or something?"

"They'd still smell you," said Stranger.

"Anything like that," amended Chris.

"They can't see you if you're standing still," Stranger said. "It's like toads. Sight's based on movement in their field of vision."

"So if I don't move, I'm basically invisible," said Chris.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't recommend testing it out unless you had no other choice," said Stranger.

By now we reached the shed. We went around to side and found the doors opened and a stool overturned. A lantern was still burning and lit up the pool of blood under the stool.

Chris ran in. "Oh, no. Dammit! What happened?" He stepped over to where another door to check for him. "Aw, he's gone. We're too late!"

Stranger shushed us. "Quiet!"

I picked up the lantern. It was a kerosene lamp. It gave me an idea.

There was a screeching sound over the wind.

"We gotta leave," said Stranger. "Right now!"

"We gotta find Josh," Chris protested. "He could still out there."

"Ha!" barked Stranger. "The Wendigo, he'll render you immobile. And then he strips the skin off your entire body, piece by piece. And then he keeps you alive and aware and feasts on your organs, one piece at a time."

"So, the lodge then," said Chris.

"Let's go now," said Stranger. "It might still be near."

The three of us headed out, Stranger taking the lead.

"Wait!" Stranger hissed. "Don't move."

We both froze.

"Be very quiet," said Stranger.

After a minute, Stranger took a few steps forward.

A loud screech came from the trees.

"Run!" yelled Stranger, breaking into a run. "Go! Now! Now!"

A Wendigo jumped into our path. It was gray with long limbs, basically a skeleton with skin. The only thing I could think to relate it to was Gollum on steroids.

"Holy shit! What the fuck!" Chris shouted.

Stranger wasted no time in frying it. "Back! Back!"

Chris got the shotgun up, swearing profusely.

"We're out in the open," said Stranger. "We gotta get out of here!"

I knew there was going to be a Wendigo coming in from the left. I was already turning in that direction. As I did, I saw the Wendigo jump down from a tree and charge Stranger. Time slowed down.

There was only one shot for this and I couldn't miss. I swung the kerosene lamp up from my hip and let it go, aiming for the Wendigo's face.

Time sped up again and the lamp shattered against the Wendigo, splashing kerosene all over it and sending the flames spreading across its face.

The Wendigo may have missed its mark, but didn't miss its target. It caught Stranger across the chest instead of the neck.

"Oh, my god, oh, my god, oh, my god!" Chris babbled.

I dropped to my knees next to Stranger. "Come on! We gotta move!"

"Leave me," Stranger moaned.

"Not happening." I grabbed his arm and stood up. "Get your feet under you."

Chris shot a Wendigo.

I saw another one coming and grabbed the flamethrower. It wasn't a good shot by any means, but it deterred it.

"Let's go!" I yelled.

"Oh, shit!" Chris shouted.

We started running. Chris did most of the shooting, trying to keep the Wendigo away. Stranger and I were a few steps back and I had most of Stranger's weight on my shoulders.

Chris got off the path. There were more trees around us and more places for us to hide, but the Wendigo could hide and jump from those places as well. We ducked under trees and around some rocks. Ahead of us, I could hear Chris shooting some Wendigo.

"Jump!" I heard him call to me.

I looked up and saw we had reached the tree line and the lodge was in sight. Chris jumped down from a ledge and he disappeared. As soon as he disappeared, I heard him swear.

Stranger and I were a little slower jumping down, but we made it.

"You okay?" I asked Chris.

Chris got to his feet, but he was only putting his weight on one leg. "Yeah."

A Wendigo jumped at us.

Chris fired the shotgun and missed. "Shit!"

Again I had to get the flamethrower out and this time I hit the Wendigo.

"Lodge!" I yelled to Chris. "And don't stop!"

Chris limped up the backyard to the lodge.

The final Wendigo lunged for Chris.

The flamethrower wasn't going to reach, not naturally at least. I pointed and fired.

"Burn," I hissed at the Wendigo.

The jet of fire stretched in front of Chris and engulfed the Wendigo completely.

The three of us ran up the steps to the back deck.

"Ash! Ash!" Chris yelled, pounding on the door. "Open the door! Let us in, please! Please!"

I got up the steps and saw Ashley just staring at us. "Ashley!"

I grabbed the doorknob and felt a click. The door pushed open and the three of us tumbled in.

Chris slammed the door behind us. "We gotta go! That thing was right behind us!"

A Wendigo appeared on the deck.

"Go! Go! Go!" cried Chris.

Ashley let out of a scream as the Wendigo lunged for the door.

Chris grabbed Ashley and I continued helping Stranger.

Mike appeared in the hallway. "What the hell?"

"Help me!" I called to him.

Mike got on the other side of Stranger and helped me carry his weight. "Oh, crap, he's heavy!"

Stranger could no longer stay on his feet.

"Get the flamethrower off him!" I shouted.

Mike and I got his flamethrower pack off and left it lay on the floor.

We ran downstairs and to the basement. We didn't stop until we got to the part of the old hotel were Josh had set up his camera monitors. That part of the downstairs was caged in.

"Oh, my god!" Emily greeted us. "Guys! Thank god!"

"What took you so long?" Sam asked.

Chris caught his breath. "Not so good up there right now."

"Understatement of the night," Mike said, making sure the door was locked.

"I could use some help here," I called. I was trying to get Stranger to sit down to see how bad his injury was.

Emily gasped. "Oh, my god!"

Stranger and I were covered in blood.

Sam and Mike leaned over.

"Are you hurt?" Sam asked me.

"No, I'm fine. This is all his. Sam, supplies are in my bag. I need gauze and antiseptic first. I got to get this clean. And get the suture kit!"

I was trying to see how bad he was bleeding and how bad the wound was. "Shit! I can't see! I need better light!"

"Josh's torture chamber is in the next room," said Ashley.

I looked up at Stranger's face. "Think you can walk another twenty feet with help?"

Stranger nodded. "Yeah, I can do that." He got to his feet with Mike's help.

Mike and I led him into the other room. The table Josh had used was too small, but I spotted a sideboard in the corner.

"Ashley! Emily! Chris! Get in here and help!" I called.

Those three followed us in.

"What do you need?" Chris asked.

I pointed a bloody hand to the sideboard. "Move that sideboard under the lights."

"Is that going to hold him?" Emily asked, hurrying over with Ashley and Chris.

The three of them picked up the sideboard and were having some trouble with it.

"Lift your end!" Ashley told Emily.

"I am!" Emily snapped.

"Both of you just go!" Chris shouted at them. "My ankle's messed up!"

I rolled my eyes. "Mike, help them. Sam, where's my stuff?"

Sam came racing in carrying all the gauze and the bottles of antiseptic. "Here!"

Chris, Mike, Ashley, and Emily brought the sideboard over.

"Up you get," I told Stranger.

Stranger pulled himself up on the sideboard. The sideboard was solid and it held Stranger's weight.

I rinsed my hands off with some antiseptic and wiped with gauze. "Somebody help me get his coat and shirt off."

It was Mike who came to the rescue again.

"I don't need help," Stranger growled at Mike, trying to get his coat off.

"Whatever you say, old man," Mike said, helping him with his clothes.

I poured some antiseptic right on the wound. Stranger hissed and groaned. After I wiped off some of the blood, I could see what I was working with. It was a ragged tear. Some of it could be stitched, but the rest would need bandages, a lot of bandages.

Emily looked over my shoulder. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "Is he going to live?"

Stranger scoffed. "Take a lot more than a little scratch to keep me down."

"You need to go to the hospital," I told him.

"You're doing fine," he told me. "Just get the bleeding stopped."

I nodded. "I don't have any painkillers."

"Well, nothing you can do about that," he rasped. "Didn't have anything when he got my eye."

I heard Emily let out a whine behind me. "God, that looks really bad."

"Emily, either help or leave," I told her, getting the suture kit out. I heard her take off into the monitor room. "That goes for all of you. If you're not helping me, stay out of the way."

Three more sets of footsteps disappeared into the monitor room.

That left Sam, who was standing across the sideboard. "What else do you need?"

"Somebody needs to check Chris's ankle. There's bandages in there for sprained joints."

Sam went back into the monitor room to get those bandages for Chris.

I started stitching up Stranger. "What's your name?"

Stranger blinked at me.

"Mine's Tempest."

Stranger chuckled. "Tempest, huh? Bet you give the boys a run for their money."

"I think the girls would agree, too," I said. "So are you going to tell me? If the worst happens, I want to be able to tell your family what happened."

"I don't have family," said Stranger. "Except the wolves."

"So what are they going to put on your tombstone?" I inquired.

Stranger didn't answer for a few long moments. I continued stitching what I could stitch.

"Jack."

I paused. "I'm sorry?"

"You can call me Jack," said Stranger.

I smiled and nodded.

After stitching him up, I packed on some gauze and bandaged everything else up.

"Try to get some rest, Jack," I said. "We'll be fine down here."

Jack closed his eyes to sleep.

I went back into the monitor room. I found Mike checking the camera monitors.

"We should stay put right here until dawn," Sam was saying. "At least we're safe down here."

"Oh, yeah?" said Mike. "All wrapped up like a little present with a bow on top for that thing to tear us apart on Christmas morning?"

"People will come for us," Sam insisted.

"When?" asked Mike.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Sam turned to me. "Mike wants to find another way out of here."

"I don't blame him," I said. "I want out of here, too."

I got my bag and started taking off my coat and pants.

Chris quickly turned away. "Whoa, Tempest!"

"I'm not completely stripping," I said. They now could see my leggings. I grabbed another pair of jeans out of my bag and a black sweatshirt.

"Okay, when?" asked Mike.

"I don't know," said Sam. "But they are going to come. Right, Tempest?"

"People know that we're here and that we're in trouble," I told Mike.

"Well, you can wait," said Mike. "I'm leaving."

"Mike, there's no key for the cable car," Emily called after him. I noticed she reached up at her shoulder.

Mike turned around. "Josh! He's gotta have it!"

"Josh?" Sam repeated.

"One of his dirty little tricks," Mike said.

"Great," muttered Sam. "Great!"

"If that fucking thing got a hold of Josh, then we're shit outta luck," said Mike.

Emily shrugged. "I don't know, Mike. It's possible . . ."

Sam turned to Emily. "What's possible?"

"It may have taken him down to the mine," Emily told us.

"What?" Mike asked.

"I saw some horrible stuff down there," said Emily. She turned around to the desk behind her. "I think that's where that thing lives and . . . huh." She picked something up.

"Em?" Sam asked. "What?

"Fuck it!" said Mike. "I'm gonna get that key right from that thing's damn bedroom and then I'm gonna get us all the hell out of here."

Sam was looking at what Emily had found. It was spread out all over the desk. "Em, what is all this?"

"It's that old guy's bag," Emily replied.

Mike and Ashley gathered around.

"Is that a map?" Mike asked.

I leaned over so I could see. It was a map of all the mining tunnels.

"This guy is prepared for anything," Sam commented. She looked at the map. "What is this place?"

Mike looked over her shoulder. "Oh, my god. I was down there. It was horrible."

"You were?" Sam asked.

"Some of them survived," said Mike. "But like fifteen of them didn't make it. I found these plans. They knew the mine was a death trap, but they let the miners keep working anyway. And I'm not sure what it means, but I found this chair with dried blood all over the place like somebody had been tortured."

"Michael, I'd like to maybe focus on how we're gonna get the fuck out of here, please?" said Emily.

Mike rolled his eyes. "I'm just saying it's weird how much crazy shit has gone on up here."

"What's weird is that there's a tunnel leading from the lodge to the sanatorium," Emily pointed out. "See?"

"That's how I got back," said Mike.

"I saw this when I was down there," said Emily. "That's where it lives."

"Em?" Ashley reached out and touched Emily's shoulder. "Em, what is that?" Ashley backed away.

"Huh?" asked Emily.

"What is that?" Ashley asked again, a bit louder, starting to freak out.

"Ash," Emily started quietly.

"Em, oh, my god, oh, my god, oh, my god!" Ashley started getting hysterical. "Oh, no! Oh, no!"

"It's nothing," Emily placated. "It bit me."

"It bit you?" Ashley screamed, pointing at her. "What bit you?"

"The Wendigo," Emily answered quietly.

"That what?" Mike exclaimed.

"It's nothing," Emily said. "Really, it's not a big deal, okay?"

"Shit!" Mike swore.

"It doesn't hurt anymore, really," Emily insisted.

I got my supplies again. "Emily, let me see."

"It's not that bad," Emily told us.

"Em," Mike said warningly, "if that thing bit you -."

Emily took a step towards him. Mike took a step back. "I know what you're thinking. I'm fine."

"Are you?" asked Mike.

"Yes!" Emily insisted.

"Emily, at least let us check it out," Sam said.

"Emily, if the Wendigo bit you, you could turn into one of those things," said Mike.

"Oh, that's ridiculous!" Sam told him.

"He said it was from eating each other," said Ashley. "He said that!"

"Is that how it worked?" asked Sam.

"Yes!" Ashley replied firmly.

"No!" I countered. I looked at Ashley. "If you're going to quote, quote precisely. It only happens if someone commits cannibalism. This is a Wendigo, not a vampire."

Ashley wasn't listening. "You're going to turn into one and then you're going to turn on us. Oh, my god, oh, my god, oh, my god!"

Mike turned to Emily. "You can't be down here with us," he said quietly.

"What?" Emily cried.

"Mike!" Sam scolded.

"You gotta go," Mike maintained.

"Are you kidding me?" cried Emily.

"You're putting us all in danger," Mike told her.

"Like hell I am!" Emily screamed.

"Emily!" Mike said louder. "You can't stay here."

Sam jumped in. "Mike, just cool your head, okay? We don't know it works like that. Maybe it's just a bite."

"Exactly," I agreed with Sam.

"I've seen what these fuckers can do," Chris said quietly from where he sat. "And I don't want to see it again."

Emily looked at the group. "What is this? Guys, what are you doing?"

"Door's right here," Mike told her. "I am letting you do this voluntarily."

"Oh, no, you're just making yourself feel better about sending me to my death since you know there's a Wendigo out there ready to rip me to pieces like it did with -."

"Okay, oh my, god! Will you just go?" shouted Ashley. She pointed to the door. "Go! Get out of here!"

Mike walked over and grabbed the gun. He pointed it at Emily.

"Whoa! Okay!" Emily put her hands up and backed away.

Sam grabbed Mike's arm. "Whoa, Mike! Calm down!"

Mike shoved Sam aside.

Emily backed up until she was huddled on the desk. "You're going to shoot me? Mike, me?"

"This is the safe room, Em!" Mike shouted, trying to keep control of himself.

"Please," Emily begged.

"It's not safe as long as you are in it!" Mike went on. "Not for us!"

"No! Don't do it!" cried Emily.

Mike let out a sob. "I'm really sorry."

I moved between the gun and Emily.

"Move, Tempest," Mike told me.

"Put it down, Mike," I ordered.

"She's dangerous, Tempest!" said Mike.

"She's a snake, I'll give her that, but she's not a danger to us at the moment," I said.

Ashley let out a scream. "She's going to kill us! Don't you get it?"

I didn't break my gaze from Mike as I pointed at her. "Ashley, we've talked about this."

Ashley let out a frustrated cry. "This is exactly what I was talking about! I see it and you don't! She's dangerous! And you're gonna let her stay here and kill us!"

I ignored Ashley. "Mike, put it down or you better be ready to commit double murder."

Mike's hands shook.

"Put the gun down, Mike!" I yelled.

Mike turned away with a growl. "I can't do this!"

"Oh, my god," Emily breathed in relief.

"You did the right thing," Sam told him.

"I hope you did," Ashley told Mike.

I let out a sigh of exasperation. "Ashley, chill."

She glared at me.

"Maybe," said Mike. "For now. Shit! Fuck! Fuck! Keep an eye on her. If you see anything weird, you guys know what to do."

"It won't come to that," I told Mike.

"No one leave," he instructed. "Okay? It's not safe out there. I'll be back soon."

Mike left us the gun and he left.

Emily curled up on the table.

I moved over to Emily. "Let me see the bite. It needs treated. Who knows what bacteria is in a Wendigo's mouth?"

Emily let out a sob, but let me pull her jacket back to get to the bite so I could clean it.

The bottle of antiseptic shook in my hand as I tried to moisten the gauze pad. Some of it splashed down my arm. I put the bottle on the desk and braced myself on the edge. I took a deep breath.

"I thought that . . . that he was going to help us," Emily said quietly.

"The flamethrower dude?" asked Sam.

"Now we don't have a chance," said Emily.

Ashley picked up Stranger's journal.

"No," said Sam. "It just means we gotta be tough."

"We'll be okay," I told them, picking up where I left off on Emily. "We can do this. The Wendigo only hunt at night. We can make a break for it in the morning."

Ashley sat down at the other desk to read the journal. "This says because the Wendigo are mutated humans, they know how to perfectly mimic their prey."

I bandaged Emily's shoulder with a combination gauze and large adhesive bandages to keep it in place. "Give that a try," I said, pulling up her jacket.

Emily tested her shoulder. She gave me a nod to let me know it was fine.

"Oh, no," I heard Ashley say. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no."

Sam got up from where she was sitting. "What does it say?"

"It says that," Ashley started. "Well, the bites, if it bites you, it's not infectious. It doesn't do anything."

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Emily demanded.

Sam took the journal from Ashley.

Ashley stood up and faced Emily. "Em, it says you'll be okay."

"It says what?" asked Emily.

"You're gonna be fine," Sam said with a relieved smile.

Emily walked over to them. "Fine? Mike almost shot me!"

"He didn't shoot you," Sam pointed out.

Emily advanced on Ashley. "And this bitch almost let him."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Sam defended. "She was scared."

Emily turned to Sam. "I'm the one who's scared."

"Emily, I'm sorry," Ashley apologized. "I'm sorry, Emily. I didn't know what was going to happen. None of us know."

"There's no excuse!" cried Emily. "There's no excuse for this!" She turned away.

Ashley stepped closer to Emily. "Please, Emily, just try to understand -."

"Understand the palm of my hand, bitch!" Emily whirled around and swung at Ashley.

I reached out and grabbed Emily's hand. "Enough." I pointed with my other hand to the desk. "Sit."

"But she -," Emily complained.

"I was there," I growled. "Now sit down. I've had enough of both your bullshit for one night."

Emily moved back.

I turned to Ashley. I pointed to the other desk. "You. Over there."

"I'm sorry," Ashley said again. "I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry."

I sat Ashley in the chair. "Now, do you see why I told you that getting hysteric right off the bat was not a good thing?"

Ashley sniffed. "But I really thought -."

"Do you see why?" I repeated. "This is exactly why. Mike almost shot Emily for absolutely no reason."

"But the old man said -."

"Said that humans transform into Wendigo through cannibalism," I finished. "So unless Emily ate human flesh, she's not going to turn into a Wendigo."

Ashley let out a sob and hung her head.

I knelt down to look her in the eye. "I know you mean well, but you have to stop jumping to conclusions without know the facts. Even if you don't know all of them, it helps to remember the ones you already found. Now he told us about what makes a Wendigo. All you had to do was remember that. Mike and the others should have done that, too, but you panicked and everyone believe you. We're all scared, Ashley. Fear makes people do things they wouldn't normally do."

Ashley hiccupped. "But you're so in control."

"Ashley, if I was in control, we'd be off this mountain long already. There are some things we can't control. But one thing you can control is fear and whether it dictates your actions. Stop letting fear control you, Ashley."

Ashley wiped her eyes. "Okay."

"Shit!" whispered Sam. "Shit, shit, shit! We've gotta get to Mike. Now!"

"What about Jack?" I asked.

"Who?" asked Ashley.

"Flamethrower dude," I answered.

Sam shook her head. "One of you can stay here, but we've gotta get to Mike."

Sam threw down the journal and ran for the door. The others followed her out.

I looked at Jack on the sideboard. I remembered if Emily died down here, the police would recover her body, which meant the Wendigo didn't come in here. Jack would be found.

I shoved my stuff back into my bag and ran out the door to catch up with the others.

* * *

 **Pokémon Trainer Tom, I did my best with Stranger. I had planned on trying to save him from the start, but I didn't know if it was going to work out. Hopefully you are satisfied with my result. As always for all you rabid readers, review so I can see what I can improve in my future writings.**


	10. 9: Separation: 2 Hours Until Dawn

**I've been checking my reviews and messages. Am I seriously the only one who's saving the Stranger? I haven't been reading any of the other Until Dawn stories because I've been so focused on getting mine completed that I didn't want any story contamination. This is a shorter chapter than some of my other ones because Chapter 9 in the game didn't focus so much on Sam. I don't know when Chapter 10 is going to be complete, but I'm about two-thirds of the way through it. So hold onto your britches, my rabid readers. If we're lucky, we'll have something for Friday and that's if I find the time to post during Black Friday (I work retail!).**

* * *

Catching up with the others was fairly easy. They weren't moving as fast because of Chris's leg.

"Sam, what did you find in Jack's journal that has you so freaked out?" I asked.

Sam glanced over her shoulder. "There's more than one. I don't know how many, but Jack's keeping them locked up in the sanatorium."

"What?" Chris asked.

"Why?" cried Ashley.

"'Death releases the Wendigo spirit'," Sam quoted. "Remember, Ashley?"

"I was too busy reading about the bite," replied Ashley.

 _A Wendigo had Mike pinned and was trying to kill him._

I sighed. "Hate to break it to you, but I think I fried one when I was out there."

Emily and Ashley looked at each other and then back at me.

"Are you saying that we could be possessed by the Wendigo spirit?" asked Ashley.

"It's a possibility," I answered. "But it can't hurt you until you act on what it's trying to make you do. We're fine as long as we get off the mountain."

"And if we don't?" Ashley asked quietly.

"We're going to get out of here, Ashley," I told her. "You'll see. We're going to make it."

Emily sniffed. "Easy for you to say."

"If you got something to say, Emily, say it," I told her.

"I don't want to be down here," she said.

"None of us do," Ashley pointed out.

"Well, we didn't all need to go look for Mike," said Emily.

"You could have stayed with Jack," I reminded Emily. "I think he would have liked the company."

"Uh, no," said Emily. "I want nothing to do with that weird old man."

I shook my head. "You know, Emily, pride and ungratefulness must be your favorite style."

"Excuse me?" Emily sneered.

"I would have thought if tonight taught you one thing, it was to put aside your pride and be thankful for still being alive right now," I said. "Mike could have easily killed us both."

"He wouldn't have shot me," Emily said haughtily.

"Add lying to that, Tempest," said Ashley.

Emily whirled on Ashley. "He wouldn't have even thought of it if you hadn't said anything," she snapped.

"Maybe if you would take some responsibility for what you do, he wouldn't have even pointed the gun in your direction," Ashley argued. "He may even still be with you instead of Jessica."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emily demanded.

"What she exactly said," I answered. "You blame everything on other people. You gave Matt hell and he could be dead because he was trying to help you."

"He left me on that tower!" Emily reminded us.

"A tower that was falling," I corrected. "Did you even think that he was trying to save himself so he could get to you? It's kind of hard to save someone when you're already dead."

Chris groaned. "Can you three give it a rest?"

"Shut up!" Emily snapped at him.

I shook my head. "It's sad really. We're going to go through all this and everyone's going to have learned something that makes them a better person, except for you. You're going to stay in that petty little world of yours where you blame everything on everyone else and you're never going to be happy because other people are not the problem." I let out a sigh. "I wonder if I made a mistake sticking up for you."

Emily looked stricken. "No, Tempest, I -."

"Come on, guys!" Sam called. She was much farther ahead of us now. "We've gotta find Mike! Come on!"

Chris stopped and braced himself against the wall. "Hey, I'm gimping out here, guys. I think maybe you should go on without me."

"No, Chris," said Ashley. "We're not leaving you. We're sticking together. Mike will just have to wait."

Chris nodded and followed Ashley.

Emily caught my arm. "Hey, Tempest. I know I seem like such a horrible person. I'm not, really. But, thank you for what you did back there."

I patted the hand on my arm and gave her a nod. "Next time, say it like you mean it and without prompting. It sounds really fake when you say it like that."

Emily glared, but said nothing. She went to catch up with Sam.

Sam was in the lead with Emily not far behind her. Ashley and I were walking side by side and Chris was bringing up the rear.

"Are those bandages tight enough?" I asked him.

Chris grunted. "There's not much more you can do for it, Tempest. I just want to get off it."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ashley walk over to the wall and pick something up.

 _Josh turned around, his face half-morphed into that of a Wendigo._

Ashley jumped and dropped the totem. "Oh, my god!"

"What?" Chris asked.

Ashley shook her head. "It's nothing," she said, her voice shaking.

Chris hobbled over and noticed the totem. "You found one, too."

Ashley looked at him. "'Too'? You mean you've found one?"

"More than one," Chris told her.

Ashley looked at the red totem. "What are they?"

"Horrible," Chris responded. "Let's keep going."

A few minutes later, we came to a set of metal doors. Sam tried to open them, but they wouldn't move.

"Shit!" she swore. "Mike must have locked it behind him. Crap! There's gotta be another way in."

We looked around.

"Wait! Hey!" Ashley called. "What about this?"

It was a drain grate.

"I mean, should we try it?" Ashley asked, the rest of us gathering around.

"Well, it's not like we got a whole lot of choices here," quipped Sam.

Ashley picked up a metal bar and pried up the grate. She and Sam then moved it off the hole.

"Okay, this is maybe the last place I would want to be right now," Ashley commented, looking down into the dark.

"So who's going first?" Sam asked us.

Emily snorted. "After you."

Sam climbed down the ladder first. "It's not so bad. You think this is the tunnel to the sanatorium?"

"Of course it is," said Ashley. "Where else would it go?"

She glanced at me, looking for guidance. It startled me a little.

"If the hotel and the sanatorium were both owned and operated by the same people, it would make sense that they would have a passage linking both buildings, mostly underground because of the snowstorms. This looks to be a drainage area. They wouldn't want the passage to flood when the spring thaw came or when there was a major storm."

Perhaps it wasn't the best explanation, but that was the only one I could come up with.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the unhelpful information, Tempest."

"No, she has a point," said Sam.

"What about the mines?" asked Chris. "Why are some of the tunnels right up against the hotel and sanatorium passages?"

I took a moment to think about it. "The miners would have needed some place to stay. And the sanatorium could have been used as a makeshift hospital. I could be wrong. I researched the legends more than I did the industrial age on this mountain."

"You may want to look it up after we get out of here," Sam suggested.

"I'm thinking I'm going to," I said.

Sam climbed down, followed by Emily. I came down behind Emily.

Chris swung his legs over the side to get to the ladder.

"Chris, I know you're hurt, but you gotta move it, all right?" Ashley said, her voice shaking.

"I'm trying, Ash," Chris shot back, aggravated.

Once Chris was down, Ashley brought up the rear. "Hey, we should close this, right?"

"Huh?" Sam called up.

"I mean what if something's following us?" Ashley went on.

"Yes, fine, close it," said Sam. "But we gotta keep moving. Can you just catch up, please?"

"I'll stay with her, Sam," I said.

Sam, Emily, and Chris went ahead.

I waited for Ashley to pull the grate back over the hole. One of the phones in my pocket went off. I reached for Josh's first, hoping it was a message from Dr. Hill. However, it wasn't Josh's phone. I got out my phone. There was a new alert.

ONE HOUR REMINDER: THE WENDIGO GETS JOSH.

And I still had no idea how I was going to save him.

Ashley reached the bottom of the ladder.

I shoved the phones back into my pocket. "Let's hurry. I think they got pretty far ahead of us."

Ashley and I walked quickly down the tunnel.

"Chris said he found more than one of those totem things," Ashley whispered. "What did he mean?"

"Exactly what he said," I replied.

"But what are they?" Ashley asked. "Why are they around here?"

"I don't know," I said. "But I do know they give visions of what could happen."

"What?" whisper-cried Ashley.

"Sam and I found a plaque explaining the totems. The Cree believed butterflies had special meanings and each color of butterfly had a different meaning. They translated that information over to their totems."

"So what I saw just a few minutes ago, that could happen?" Ashley asked. "Oh, god, Josh!"

"It could happen, but that doesn't mean it's going to. We know the outcome, we just have to change it so it doesn't happen."

We were quiet for a few minutes.

"Tempest?"

"Hmm?"

Ashley took a deep breath. "I want to apologize."

"For what?"

"Locking you out. And yelling at you."

I glanced at her. "Yeah, that was a dick move. Did we piss you off that bad that you wanted to kill us?"

"Yeah," Ashley answered. "I mean, Chris did the same thing to me."

"But you were fine. Plus you were never in any danger. We were."

Ashley started crying. "I didn't think there really was a monster. I thought the old man was making it up. And then I saw it and, oh, my god, I'm so sorry! I thought you guys were screwing with me again!"

"And now you know," I said.

Ashley wiped her eyes. "How are you not angry at me?"

I laughed. "Ashley, trust me, I am angry. But fighting isn't going to solve anything right now. But in a couple hours, when we get out of here, I'll probably be expressing my true feelings."

"Like you did with Emily in the lodge?"

I smirked. "Yeah."

Ashley let out a shaky laugh. "Okay. Oh, boy. I do have a question though: How did you get the door open? It was locked."

I shrugged. "Doors just like me, I guess."

The tunnel split in two different directions.

"Left or right?" Ashley asked me.

"Help me!" cried a female voice. It came from the left tunnel.

"Hello?" Ashley called out quietly.

"Hey!" the voice called again.

"Who's there?" Ashley called out a little louder.

The voice started crying.

"Anybody?" Ashley tried again. "Jessica? Is it you?"

The voice continued to cry, but there was no answer to Ashley's questions.

Ashley turned to me. "What should we do?"

I shook my head. I knew there was a Wendigo hiding down there, but there was also a totem.

"Do you think it could be Jessica?" Ashley asked me.

"I don't know," I replied. "It could be. She might be down here."

"You think?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah. Something that Mike said. She fell, but she was alive when she did. She could still be alive."

"But the Wendigo," Ashley pointed out.

"If she's been knocked out this whole time, they could have just passed her by. They see movement. If she wasn't moving, they wouldn't have seen her."

Ashley nodded. "Then we should check it out."

I nodded.

Ashley and I took the left tunnel, carefully jumping down from where it dropped off a few feet.

"This is fucking crazy," whispered Ashley. "Jessica? Jessica, is that you?"

"Hey!" the voice called out.

There was banging on something. It was repetitive and kept getting louder the farther we walked down the tunnel.

"Please!" the voice begged.

"What is . . ." Ashley started to say.

The tunnel became a mining tunnel. There were support walls and beams along with little stations set up.

We walked into one and noticed something on the ground.

"Oh, no," muttered Ashley. "No, no, no."

"What?" I whispered.

"It's another totem," said Ashley.

"Well? Are you going to pick it up?"

Ashley looked at it hesitantly. She knelt down and picked it up.

 _The Wendigo had its hands around Josh's skull and was squeezing._

Ashley dropped the totem and opened her mouth to scream. I lunged forward and wrapped my hand around her mouth. She screamed in my hand.

"Shh! Shh!" I hissed in her ear.

Ashley let out a strangled sob.

"I'm going to move my hand," I told her. "Don't scream. Okay?"

Ashley nodded.

I removed my hand. "You okay?"

Ashley shook her head vigorously. "No! I just saw Josh being killed by a Wendigo!"

I slapped my hand over her mouth to quiet her.

"It's what could happen!" I reminded her.

She nodded, remembering what I said.

I removed my hand again. "Now, let's see if that's Jess down here."

Ashley nodded again and we started following the banging.

In another work area, we noticed a trapdoor. The banging was something slamming against it, trying to break it open.

Ashley stopped and grabbed my arm. "I don't think that's Jess," she whispered in my ear. "The Wendigo – they can mimic voices."

"I'm thinking the same thing," I whispered back. I pointed down the tunnel before us. "I think we can get out that way."

Ashley and I ignored the banging and followed the tunnel I pointed out. At the end, we had to climb down another drop again. Just as we did, Sam, Emily, and Chris came around the corner of an adjacent tunnel.

"Oh, my god, I am so glad to see you!" Ashley said to them.

"Glad you're safe," Sam commented.

Sam took lead again and led us out of the tunnel. It opened up into a large cavern.

"Look," said Ashley. "Look there!"

"Wow, great," said Sam.

In front of us was a wall of rock, the ladder leading up to the top broken beyond use.

"The ladder's toast," said Ashley. "We're never gonna make it up there."

"No, I think I can," said Sam. "I think I can do it. It's like a rock wall. I'm gonna keep going. You should head back to the lodge. And get Jack. I gotta get Mike and then we're getting out of here."

"Good luck," Ashley wished her.

Ashley, Emily, and Chris turned around to head back.

I walked over to Sam.

"You go, too, Tempest," said Sam.

I shook my head. "I'm staying with you, Sam."

"We don't have time to argue," Sam said.

"Then let's not." I motioned to the wall.

Sam sighed. "Have you ever rock climbed before?"

"No," I answered. "But I'll follow you up."

"Okay," said Sam. "Just put your hands and feet where I do."

I nodded.

Sam went up first, taking care of how she went up, knowing that I would have to take the same route. I followed her up.

Sam reached the top. "Ha! I beat you. I fucking beat you."

"I really hope you are talking to the wall and not to me," I quipped.

She looked over to see where I was. "You got it?"

I pulled myself to the top. Sam took my hand and pulled me over.

I got to my feet and brushed myself off. "That's wasn't so bad."

Sam and I walked back to a blocked off tunnel. The wooden wall was broken and we could see through to the other side. There was a door around the corner that we would have to walk around to get to.

"Okay, then," said Sam.

We turned around and took the stairs. We were partway up when some rocks fell. I jumped up a few stairs and turned around. The stairs I was just standing on were gone, taken out by the falling rocks.

"You okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. But we're not going back that way."

We didn't get far before some sort of explosion rocked the cavern. Dust and some rocks fell, but nowhere near the size of the rocks that had taken out the stairs.

"What was that?" asked Sam.

I shook my head, trying to remember what it could be. I think it was Mike blowing up the sanatorium.

The stairs led into a small cavern. In one corner was another totem.

"A totem down here?" Sam wondered out loud.

"The others have been finding them all over the mountain," I told her. "Ashley found two since we came down here."

"Were they seeing stuff, too?"

I nodded. "And not all of it good."

Sam knelt down. "Well, here's hoping these Native Americans knew there stuff. We could use a little good luck right now. What color were those butterflies for fortune?"

"White," I replied.

"I don't think this one has any white on it," said Sam. She picked up the totem and turned it over.

 _The Wendigo was holding Sam up by the head. There was the sickening sound of flesh being pierced. Sam's face went blank as she died._

Sam gasped and carefully put the totem down. "Shit!"

I looked down at my black butterfly ring. Like the yellow butterfly ring, it now had a slight shimmer instead of the twinkle the other three still had. All the death totems had been found.

"You good?" I asked her.

"As good as I'll be after seeing that," Sam replied.

"Just remember, it's what could happen, not what will."

"You seem to know a thing or two about that," said Sam.

"You're not the only one finding them," I told her. "Chris, Ashley, and I'm sure the others found them as well."

Sam frowned. "You're sure?"

"I watched Chris and Ashley pick them up myself," I told her.

Her frown deepened. "You saw what I saw when I picked up the yellow one before we got here. Oh, my god! You've been seeing all of them! Every time someone found a totem, you saw what they saw!"

Busted.

I nodded.

"So you've been trying to keep it from happening," Sam realized.

"Keep some of it from happening and making sure some of it happens," I corrected. "Not all of what the totems show is horrible."

"Like what?" Sam pried.

"Like Emily being shot in the head," I said. "Mike making the decision not to shoot Emily. Mike having his fingers cut off in a trap. Ashley letting Chris and only Chris in the lodge after being chased by the Wendigo. All are things that I saw, but not all of them came to pass."

Sam looked pale, but it was hard to tell in what little light we had. "You've been trying to keep us alive this whole time. The whole time! Holy shit! Why didn't you tell us?"

"Would you have believe me?" I asked.

Sam's mouth moved like she was trying to find the words to speak. "Do you know if we're going to find Josh? If we're going to get out of here?"

"Sam, I only know what the totems showed me," I lied.

"But do you know?" Sam demanded.

I royally screwed up now. "I don't know. Not for certain. The totems show possible events. It doesn't mean that it's going to happen. Everything is based on choice. It's the butterfly effect."

Sam shook her head. "Is there anything you can tell me that can help us find Josh? Or Mike?"

"No," I replied.

Sam let out an aggravated sigh.

"But there's a chance Jess is alive."

"What?"

"In one of the visions, I saw her sit up in the bottom of a mineshaft. She was bloody, but she was alive."

Sam bit her lip. "One of the visions? Did you see another with Jess?"

I took a breath. "Dead. Mutilated."

"Fuck!" Sam looked conflicted. "We'll find Mike and then Josh. We'll have to find Jess later. Hopefully she'll be alive when we do."

She walked over to where some barrels were standing up, hoping there was a door way. Instead, her headlamp lit up an animal skull and a finger painting in either blood or red paint.

"What the . . ." she started.

I looked at the painting. It was a skull with sharp teeth and antlers. "It's a warning for evil spirits. It means turn back and don't come back."

"How inviting," Sam muttered.

"I think it's also a ward to keep evil spirits contained or away," I added. "I'm not sure. I don't remember."

"That's fine," said Sam. "We know the Wendigo's down here."

The cavern was a dead end, so we had to turn around. The catwalk did split back a little farther and we backtracked and took that path.

There was another rumble and several rocks fell in front of us. Sam and I grabbed the railings to keep from falling.

"Oh, shit!" swore Sam.

She quickly jumped across and looked back at me.

The rumbling stopped and no more rocks fell.

Sam looked at the gap. "Think you can make that?" she asked.

I took a few steps back before getting a running start. I jumped the gap and into Sam's arms.

"Thanks," I told her.

A scream startled us.

"Wendigo," I whispered. "Ashley and I think there was one back there mimicking Jess."

"We need to keep going." Sam glanced down and noticed a metal bar. "Huh. This could come in handy."

At the end of the walkway, we had to jump down since there were no stairs.

"There's the door," Sam said, pointing it out.

Before we could reach it, there was screeching and the door burst open to reveal Mike.

"Dammit! Stay out there!" He was trying to close the door on a burning Wendigo.

However, the Wendigo forced its way in and pinned Mike.

"Holy shit!" Sam ran over with the bar raised. "Hey! Fatty! Over here!"

She smacked the Wendigo under the chin, forcing it off Mike.

I made a grab for Mike to pull him out of the way.

The Wendigo recovered some and lunged for the first thing it could see. That was me. I ducked out of the way from being clawed in the face, but its burning arm brushed against my shoulder and neck.

A second swing from Sam took its head off. The body fell back and continued to burn.

Mike jumped up and shut the door, shoving the shotgun he found between the handle and the broken latch to keep it locked.

My neck and shoulder burned from where the Wendigo brushed against me.

"Tempest!" Sam screamed. She dropped the bar and started beating at my clothes and hair. "Mike, she's on fire!"

"Fuck!" I heard Mike yell.

One of them yanked off my sweatshirt, almost taking my other top with it. The other was still beating at my hair. Mike's smelly coat was in my face, mostly at my hair, trying to smother the flames.

"I think we got it," said Sam.

Mike pulled his coat away. "Yeah, it's out."

Something started screaming. We turned around and saw a flaming specter flying around the cavern for a moment before disappearing.

I sat up. "Thanks. I didn't realize I was burning."

Sam picked up my sweatshirt. "Well, it's ruined."

I held my hand out for her to give it to me. "It's what I have. I don't have another heavy top in my bag."

Mike pulled his coat back on. "You okay, Tempest?"

I prodded my neck. "I'll live," I hissed. I pulled my sweatshirt back on and retrieved my bag that had gotten displaced when my sweatshirt was pulled off.

"Sam?"

"Alive," Sam said with a laugh.

"Yeah. Yeah, alive's good," Mike agreed. "What the hell are you doing down here anyway?"

"I was gonna warn you about the Wendigos," Sam answered.

"I think I got it," said Mike.

Sam looked at my neck. "That looks bad."

"I think it's fine, just hurts a lot," I said. "There's antibiotic cream in my bag."

Sam went through my bag and found the tube. "Let's get something on it."

"Just the cream," I said. "We don't have time for bandaging."

Sam put a thick layer of the antibiotic cream on the burn. "There. Done."

Mike nodded. "Let's find a way down to where this fucker lives."

Sam and I got up and followed him back into the mines.

I felt my phone go off in my pocket again. I had an idea of what it was, but I wanted to double-check to see what it was.

6:23 – JOSH HAS HEAD CRUSHED BY WENDIGO.

6:23 – TEMPEST HAS HEAD SMASHED BY WENDIGO.

I had no plan to save Josh. All my hard work was going to go down the drain if I didn't figure out how to save Josh in less than thirty minutes. And if I didn't stop it from happening, I could be killed. Even if I wasn't killed, I would have to repeat this entire night over. I did not want to do that after all I went through already.

No, I might not have had a lot of time, but I was going to figure out a way to save Josh. I was not reliving this dream again.

* * *

 **I did my best with drawing out this chapter so that it wasn't just a little bite-sized thing. I couldn't in good conscious do that to you guys. So Chapter 10 is on its way and that's when it completely hits the fan. In the meantime, review and take the time to answer this question: If I were to do another self-insert, "Tempest" style fic, what anime, book, cartoon, game, or movie would you like to see? I don't know if I'll be writing another "Tempest" fic, but I just want you're input if I ever decide to do another one.**


	11. 10: Hunt: 1 Hour Until Dawn

**You've waited a week for this chapter and I hope it is well worth it. I ended up deviating from my original idea, finished the chapter, re-read it, and hated it. Now for the most part it is what it would have been if I had just gone with my first idea to begin with. I do have to warn you that some of you may be a little disappointed with this chapter. Others may be happy. You'll see what I mean when you get to the end.**

* * *

"I was not prepared for how ugly that thing would be up close," said Sam, adjusting her headlamp as we continued through the mines.

"Yeah," Mike agreed. "I noticed something kinda weird about it."

"What?" asked Sam.

"The Wendigo," replied Mike. "It had a scar."

"So?" Sam asked.

"I've seen it before," said Mike.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked him.

"I saw these old pictures of some guy with that same scar and he was transforming into a Wendigo," said Mike.

Sam stopped. "You're kidding!"

Mike paused and shook his head. "It was one of the miners who had been trapped back in the 50s in a cave-in. Which means that thing is eighty years old at least."

"Spunky for an old timer," Sam commented, continuing down the tunnel.

"They cleaned the place out," said Mike, following. "Killed a lot of people."

"They?" Sam stopped. "You mean there are more of them?"

"Oh, yeah," said Mike.

"How many?"

"Too many," Mike answered.

Sam looked down the tunnel. "I think we're close to the lair."

"How can you tell?" asked Mike.

"I don't know," replied Sam. "I just feel really terrible all of a sudden."

"Ditto," muttered Mike. "Tempest, you still with us?"

I was following a few steps behind them. "Yeah, I'm still here."

"Any of that Wendigo knowledge you picked up able to help us right now?" Sam asked.

I shook my head. "Not much. But Mike said something about the miners. I think I have a way of telling how many of these Wendigo are down here."

"You do?" asked Sam.

"Yeah." I looked at Mike. "When you were up in the sanatorium, did you happen to notice how many miners were rescued from the mine?"

Mike gave a small shake of his head. "There were logs and files all over the place. I don't recall reading how many miners got out. I think there were fifteen that died down there."

"Are you saying that all the miners that got out ended up turning into Wendigo?" Sam asked me.

I nodded. "They were trapped in the mines for who knows how long. They got desperate and with the Wendigo spirit still on the mountain, it was only matter of time before the committed cannibalism. It used them create more Wendigo."

"Geez!" Sam exclaimed. "Is there any way for this thing to be stopped?"

I shrugged. "Not entirely. At least as far as I know. I'm sure there is something in the legends, but nothing I can think of right this minute. I think Jack had the right idea leaving the herbs and totems to ward it off. But outright killing it, if he found a way, he hasn't gotten the chance."

Sam frowned.

"I think he would have done so the first chance he got if he found a way," I told her, interpreting her frown as the question of why Jack hadn't.

Mike sighed. "No one's safe up here."

"There's something else," I added.

"What's that?" asked Mike.

"I don't think one of them was in the cave-in at all."

"Why do you think that?" Sam asked.

"The one who took Jess," I started. This gave me Mike's undivided attention. "I don't think that one was a miner."

"Then who was he?" Mike asked. "Where did that one come from?"

"Well, Emily said she found Beth's head and she thinks Hannah survived the fall."

"No way!" Mike cut in. "It's not Hannah. Hannah disappeared. Maybe it wasn't Beth that Emily found. Did you ever think of that?"

I let it go. There was no sense in getting emotional over it. They would find out soon enough.

We stepped out of the tunnel and into a large cavern. The lower section of the cavern was flooded out. At one time the waterwheel would have turned, but now it stood still. The catwalks and bridges to get over the water were washed away.

"I really don't want to be go in there," Sam said, looking at the water.

"There's no other way," said Mike.

Sam noticed a totem at her feet and picked it up.

 _The lodge was in flames and there were people in the back yard moving around._

My white butterfly ring now had five twinkling points of light, four in each corner of the wings and one in the body.

Sam put the totem down and looked at the broken bridge. "Let's see if we can find another way around."

There was a path to our left that ran along the side of the cavern. Unfortunately it didn't go the entire way around the cavern; it was blocked off.

Next to the rocks that blocked the way, there was a shallow hole that was completely out of place with what was around it.

"Mike," Sam said from the front. "Is that what I think it is?"

I looked in the hole.

"Shit," muttered Mike. "It looks like a grave."

"'Looks like' nothing. It is." I pointed at the grave. "Those aren't rocks. Those are bones. Ribcage, femurs, hand, and lower arm. Someone's buried here."

Sam bent down and picked something up. "Oh, god. Mike, this is Beth's. This is her watch!"

"What? Let me see." Mike noticed Beth's name on the back of the watch.

Sam turned back to the grave. "Look! There was a cross here."

I looked at where Sam was pointing and saw the piece of board protruding from between a couple rocks.

"So this is where she was buried," said Mike.

"But who dug her up?" Sam asked.

"And who buried her?" I added even though I already knew all this.

"Let's keep moving," Mike said.

Mike and Sam turned around and walked back to the broken bridge. I stayed for a moment.

"Don't worry, Beth," I whispered. "It'll be fine. I'll make sure of it."

"Tempest!" Mike called for me.

I turned away from the bones and caught up with Sam and Mike back at the broken bridge.

The three of us looked at the water.

With a resigned sigh, Sam said, "Fine, I'm going in."

Mike went in first, the water coming up to his waist. "Come on. It's okay."

"You sure?" asked Sam.

"I'm not dead yet," quipped Mike.

"Famous last words," muttered Sam. She jumped in. "Oh! It's freezing! I can't feel my fingers!"

I took the phones out of my pocket and shoved them in my bra. I couldn't afford to get them wet. I held my bag above my head and hopped in.

It was cold! The kind of cold that would have hypothermia setting in within minutes. And even after we got out, we still had to worry about not freezing to death before we got back to the lodge.

The three of us waded through the water. It kept getting higher and it was up to my chest. I hoped the phones wouldn't get wet.

"Wait a minute," Sam said to Mike. "I thought you said that you reached the deepest part."

Mike shivered. "I didn't say that. I said it was okay, meaning, like, there weren't any sharks or anything in here."

"Sharks?" whispered Sam. "Great. Thank you."

I shivered. "Can we just hurry up and get out of this water? There's a ledge over there."

Sam turned to her left and waded over, Mike and I behind her.

We reached the other side and pulled ourselves out.

"Hey." Mike got to his feet and went over to something laying in the dirt. "Shit! This looks like Hannah's writing."

"What is it?" I asked.

Sam and I gathered around what Mike found. It was an old folder with some papers inside.

Sam knelt down, read what was on the page, and then turned it. The entries were written on the back of the mining plans and work orders. Sam read a few more pages before speaking up.

"'I'm sorry, Beth. I have no choice. It's the only way I can survive anymore. If somebody finds this, I'm sorry. But I had to. I had no choice.'"

"What does it mean?" asked Mike.

Sam turned a few more pages. The entries after that devolved into scribblings, but I could make out the word 'hungry' written several times, overlapping.

Sam stood up. "Oh, god, it makes sense! I think Hannah dug up Beth. It was Hannah!"

Mike shook his head. "No, that's ridiculous!"

"Michael, it has to be," Sam insisted. "It's the only thing that makes sense. Beth died in the fall."

"So what?" said Mike. "What does that mean?"

"So Hannah must have buried her," Sam went on.

"Dammit," muttered Mike, understanding, but not wanting to believe. "Dammit!"

"Hannah was down here," Sam went on.

"I don't believe any of this!" shouted Mike.

"She would have been starving!" Sam continued. "She would have been desperate!"

"And in her desperation, she did what she needed to in order to survive," I added. "She dug up her sister and the Wendigo spirit took hold. What she thought would give her time ended up destroying her."

Mike grabbed my arm. "Is there any way? Is there any way to get Hannah back?"

I shook my head. "What's done is done. There's no going back."

"Fuck!" Mike swore.

"We need to find Josh," said Sam. "Right now!"

"Back in the water then," I groused.

Sam pointed at the waterwheel. "There was another ledge on the other side of that waterwheel. At one point the bridge led there. Josh could be there."

"Okay," I said. "I didn't say that I wasn't going. I'm more worried about us getting hypothermia."

We got back in the water and started making our way around to the other side of the waterwheel. I stepped down and the water level came up another inch.

"Oh, crap!" I stopped and took a step back.

"It's getting deeper!" Mike informed us.

"Mike," I called.

Mike turned around. "What?"

"I need some help," I said.

Mike waded back over to me. "Do you want me to take your bag?"

I blushed. "No. I need you to get the phones so they don't get wet."

"Aren't they in your bag?" asked Mike. "And phones, plural?"

"One's Josh's, the one we used to message for help," I told him.

"Well, where are they?" asked Mike.

"Down my shirt."

"What?"

"It was the only place I could think of where they would be safe and not get wet," I defended. "And clearly I didn't anticipate the water level coming up much higher than my waist. Now can you get them before we get hypothermia? Please?"

"Sure," Mike replied. He put his hand up to the collar of my sweatshirt. "Um, this is awkward."

"Just hurry up."

Mike pulled my shirt collars back and went fishing for the phones.

I gasped.

"Sorry," Mike quickly apologized.

"Geez, your hands are cold!"

"Sorry, sorry. I'll make it up to you."

I flinched. "And how are you going to do that?"

"I'll buy you dinner."

"The last thing I need is another jealous girlfriend accusing me of stealing her boyfriend," I told him.

Mike found one of the phones. "I'll tell her what happened."

"Let's not!" I huffed.

He pulled them both out and kept going.

"Oh, hey, it's sloping up again," Mike said.

"Oh, my god! Don't jinx it!" Sam snapped at him.

We climbed out of the water on the other side. I was soaked up to my neck and the ice water on my burns wasn't helping anything.

"Come on," Mike urged, helping me up. "Come on, we made it."

We shook ourselves off and kept going.

There wasn't much on this side of the water, except for a metal door. Sam reached it first and unlatched it. The door forced itself open and a lot of water flooded out, along with an animal head. It looked to be that of an elk and something had been gnawing on it.

Sam and I let out a scream and Mike hurried to get away from it. The three of us looked at the head for a moment. I looked away from the head first and glanced back at the water. There was something there.

"Let's go," I said, not letting on to what I saw.

The Wendigo was not far behind us. Its head was sticking above the surface.

The door led into some sort of supply building. There was some old equipment that was abandoned. Above our heads, something was swinging.

"Do you see that?" Mike asked Sam.

They aimed their lights up to see. The rest of the elk was hanging from some hooks on a chain.

Sam retched.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," said Mike, turning to the wall. "Wait!" He was looking through the gaps in the boards. "Hold on, hold on. I think I saw something."

Sam and I found a place to look through.

It was Josh!

"Josh!" Sam called.

We ran around to get to him. He was standing there babbling about not taking orders from somebody.

"Hey," Mike said, approaching Josh. "Hey, Josh."

"You can't tell me what to do," sobbed Josh. "You can't tell me what to do!"

"Josh, buddy?" Mike tried again.

"Okay, okay," Josh babbled. "I trust you. I trust you. I trust you."

"What the matter with him?" Sam asked.

"He's tripping or something." Mike pulled his hand back and slapped Josh across the face. "Josh!"

Josh blinked. "Mike?"

"Josh! Hey, man," Mike said, relieved.

Josh swallowed. "Don't hit me, please," he stuttered.

"You were deep in it, man," Mike told him. "Full mental jacket."

"We didn't think we'd get you back," said Sam.

I stood in front of Josh. "Are you back with us?"

Josh stared at me for a minute. "Tempest. You're Tempest."

I nodded. "Yes. Yes, Josh, I'm Tempest."

Josh took a shuddering breath. "I thought – I thought maybe . . ."

"You thought what, Josh?" I asked gently.

"That you were Beth," he replied. "I thought you were Beth. Then she still would be alive. She would tell me what really happened to her, not blame me for them dying."

"Josh, it's not your fault what happened to them," I said.

"I'm their big brother!" shouted Josh.

"Josh, shh!" hissed Sam.

"I'm supposed to take care of them!" Josh let out a sob.

"Josh, Josh, you got to calm down," I said. "Just calm down."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Josh cried.

I gave Josh a hug. "Shh. It's okay. We'll talk about this later. Right now, let's get back to the lodge. We can sort this all out back there. Okay?"

Josh sniffed. "Okay. I don't like this place."

"I don't like it either, Josh," I said.

Josh sniffed again. "Do you think they were down here?"

Sam and Mike frowned.

"Who?" asked Sam. "Who do we think was down here?"

"Hannah and Beth," Josh answered. He hung his head. "I didn't want you to die. I didn't want you to die!"

Mike grabbed Josh and gave him a shake. "Snap out of it, man!"

Sam bit her lip before speaking. "Josh, Hannah was down here for weeks, a month. She dug Beth up."

"Sam," Mike tried to get her to stop.

"Mike," she countered.

"Let's just get the fuck outta here," said Mike.

I tapped Sam's shoulder. "We can tell him later. This really isn't the place."

"Okay," Sam conceded. "Josh, do you have the key for the cable car?"

Josh started checking his pocket. "Uh, yeah. Here." He handed it to her.

"Oh, good!" Sam sighed. She looked around. "You see that over there?" She pointed to a shaft of light. "That means there's a direct way out."

We walked around to where the light was coming down from. It was a shaft that led up to the surface. It was wide, but it was almost straight up.

"There's no way Josh is gonna make it up there," Mike told Sam.

"And I don't think I could make it with my shoulder like this," I added.

"Okay," said Sam. "If you help me up, I can go back and tell the others we're okay."

Mike agreed with that.

"You bring Josh back the way we came and we'll all meet at the lodge," Sam instructed.

"Be careful," Mike told Sam.

"Yeah, you too," Sam said.

Mike got down and gave Sam a boost.

Once Sam was up on her own, we turned around and started back.

"All right, let's go, you fucked up son of a bitch," Mike said to Josh.

"You didn't," Josh started. "You didn't have to hit me so much, man."

"Uh, yeah, I'm sorry about before, man. I thought you killed Jess. I was wrong."

I walked beside Josh. He took a branch off into a different tunnel. I was about to ask him what he was doing and then I saw what he was looking at – a totem.

 _Sam stood perfectly still and a Wendigo was standing right in front of her, but didn't notice her._

Josh put the totem down, looking very confused.

I looked down at my rings. The white butterfly ring shimmered like the yellow and black.

"Come on, Josh," I said gently.

Josh shuffled back over to me, glancing over his shoulder at the totem.

Mike led us back passed the hanging corpse.

Josh continued to babble quietly. "I trust you . . . I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Josh, you need to be quiet," I told him. "You have to be quiet so we're not caught, okay?"

Josh looked at me blankly. "Caught? By what?"

"By the thing that brought you down here," I replied.

He blinked a few times. "That's right. Mike and Chris tied me up in the shed." Josh frowned. "Why did they tie me up in the shed?"

"You don't remember?"

"I remember the séance," said Josh. "Then things start getting mixed up."

"We'll sort it out later," I told him. "Right now, I need you to be quiet so it doesn't get us. Okay?"

Josh looked at me and nodded. "Okay. Okay, I'll try."

"Okay."

Mike had stopped and waited for us, realizing there was something wrong with Josh. He knew that Josh had to be quiet so the Wendigo didn't hear him. Mike looked at me, waiting for conformation for us to continue. Seeing that Josh and I had finished talking, he moved to step through the doorway.

"Wait!" I hissed.

Mike stopped. "What?"

"Wait." I had Josh wait where he was. I went over to Mike. "Mike, I don't think we can go back through the water."

"What? Why?" Mike asked.

"I think the Wendigo's waiting for us," I answered.

"Really? You sure?"

I nodded. "I saw something in the water before we came in. I thought it was just some fell in, but the more I think of it, the more we're here . . . we're in its kitchen." I nodded in the direction of the strung up elk.

"Fuck! That's the only way back," Mike muttered.

I looked out the door at the chained off area. It went behind the waterwheel, out of the water. "We might be able to go around. Go behind the waterwheel."

Mike glanced out. "It doesn't go back the whole way around."

"I know, but there might be another passage behind the waterwheel. We might be able to get out that way."

Mike looked a little hesitant. "Okay. Okay, we'll go that way."

I motioned Josh over. "Josh, listen to me. We're going to get out of here. We're going to go around the other side of the waterwheel. But you have to be quiet, okay? If we hear something, we need to freeze and not move until the danger passes. Okay?"

Josh nodded.

Mike added a little more to that. "Once we're across, we get to the next cavern and we don't make a sound until we're in the clear. After that, the first tunnel we see that leads out of here, we're taking it."

"Okay," I said. I turned to Josh. "You can do it, Josh. Think of it like a game. Don't make a sound."

Josh nodded again.

I turned to Mike. "Let's go."

The three of us walked out the door. Mike ducked under the chain first and started carefully picking his way across the loose and wet rocks. I sent Josh after him.

I kept an eye on the water. The Wendigo was there. It was only a matter of time before it popped up for air or even to search for us.

I saw some ripples in the water. I stood completely still and glanced over to see where the boys were. They were about halfway across and still moving. They hadn't noticed anything. I glanced back at the water.

A head and shoulders were sticking above the water's surface. Clouded eyes were staring right at me.

I couldn't move. If I moved I was dead. I didn't even dare move my eyes to see where Mike and Josh now were.

Some rocks shifted under one of the boys' feet. The Wendigo looked in their direction. I also looked over to see what happened. Mike was bent over, having caught his balance before he had fallen completely. He had frozen up, not knowing if the Wendigo had heard or where the Wendigo even was.

Josh had also frozen where he stood, not daring to even move his head to see if anything had heard them.

The Wendigo hadn't seen them. Good.

The Wendigo ducked beneath the water again.

Mike glanced back at me.

I motioned for them to hurry up.

Mike nodded and kept going.

I crawled under the chain and hurried to catch up with them. I kept looking over to the water to see if the Wendigo popped up again.

And it did.

This time, the Wendigo was much closer to the shore. It was waiting for us to come out. It dipped beneath the surface again.

Mike and Josh were around the waterwheel waiting for me.

"It's right there," I mouthed, pointing to the water where I saw the Wendigo last.

Mike motioned to me to hurry up.

I reached them at the waterwheel before I saw the Wendigo again. The three of us froze. It wasn't looking at us. Instead it was climbing out of the water to go back through the building.

"It's not real!" Josh whimpered.

Mike clamped his hand over Josh's mouth.

The Wendigo paused, but didn't look back. It took it a few seconds before deciding there wasn't anything of interest there and it entered the building.

Mike pointed ahead of us where it was nothing but loose rocks and water. And a light! Light meant a way out.

We hurried over to where the light was coming from. It was coming from a narrow tunnel that led up to the surface. It probably served as an airshaft at one point, but now it was going to be our escape route.

"Shit," whispered Mike. "I thought it would be bigger than this."

"It's what we have to work with," I whispered back.

"We won't fit," said Mike.

"Yes, we will," I told him.

Mike looked from me to the tunnel. "Maybe you'll fit. We'll find another way around."

"I am not leaving you two behind," I said. "Besides, if I can fit with my bag, you can fit."

"Fine." Mike knelt down and gave me a boost.

I started crawling up the tunnel. My bag did get caught behind me and I had to lay flat to get unstuck.

There was a screech.

"Shit!" Mike swore. "It knows! Josh, come on!"

Behind me, I heard Josh crawling up the tunnel, babbling.

"Mike!" I called.

"Just go! I'll find you!" Mike shouted.

Mike must have run off because I didn't hear anything out of him after that.

Josh was crawling up behind me. "Tempest," he whimpered. "Can you hurry?"

"Yeah." I kept crawling.

There was another screech. This one sounded way too close.

"No!" Josh yelled. "You're not real!"

I looked back the best I could. There was more screeching over Josh's shouting.

The Wendigo was trying to get to us!

"No! No!" Josh yelled.

"Josh!" I yelled to him.

"Let go! No!"

"Josh, kick it!" I yelled. "Kick it!"

I assumed Josh started fighting back. Josh's hand came up and grabbed my ankle. I lost my grip and was yanked back. The Wendigo must have had Josh and Josh had grabbed me to keep himself from being pulled out of the tunnel.

"Kick it harder!" I screamed at Josh.

I slid back, but my bag got me stuck. I dug my fingers into the dirt, trying to hold onto the sides of the airshaft.

Collapse behind us. Collapse behind us. Collapse behind us.

Josh let out another scream and the tunnel behind them started caving in right on top of the Wendigo's head. The Wendigo shrieked and retreated.

Josh was reduced to a whimpering mess.

"Josh, we gotta move," I told him. "We gotta move. It can still come around the other side and get us."

Josh continued to babble.

I growled. "Joshua!"

"I don't take orders from you," Josh moaned. "I don't take orders from you."

"Josh!" I shouted at him. "Snap out of it!"

 _Mike's burned body hit the floor and flames engulfed it._

I let out a small scream. In the very little light we had to work with, my brown butterfly ring shimmered. Now all the loss totems had been found. There was only one totem left and then all the rings would be complete. I didn't know what that meant, but I had other things to worry about at the moment.

"You can't tell me what to do," Josh went on.

I couldn't turn around to look at Josh. Instead, I kicked.

Josh yelped. "T-Tempest?" he stuttered.

"You back, Josh?" I asked.

"Don't hit me," muttered Josh.

"Sorry, but you weren't exactly with it," I apologized. "We need to get out of here."

"How?" asked Josh.

"You need to give me a push," I told him. "I'm caught up with my bag. Can you do that?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Okay. Give me a push."

Josh gave me a push from behind. With a little wiggling, I dislodged myself and we continued to crawl to the top of the tunnel.

The icy wind blew against my face. I pulled myself into the snow and turned around to help Josh out.

"Come on," I urged, pulling at his arm.

Josh got to his feet.

I hugged myself and looked around. There was snow blowing everywhere. The sky was beginning to lighten in the east.

"Oh, geez! Where are we?" I muttered.

I wasn't expecting Josh to answer me. "I think we're up the mountain from the lodge."

I turned to him. "Do you know how to get back from the lodge from here?"

Josh nodded.

"Okay, let's hurry," I told him.

Josh led the way back to the lodge. Almost the entire way we had to listen to the Wendigo screeching. Every time one would screech, Josh would jump.

"It's okay, Josh," I whispered to him.

 _In the lodge, a Wendigo was scampering around on the walls and floor._

And that was the final totem. All five of my rings now shimmered. Nothing else happened.

"Come on, Josh. We need to hurry."

Josh nodded and picked up the pace.

We reached the lodge and I saw that the glass door was broken. Sam and Mike must have been here already.

I reached for the door handle and the door opened on its own. On the other side was Sam.

She let out a sigh of relief. "You're okay."

I stepped inside, Josh behind me. "Yeah, we got away."

"I thought that thing got you," said Mike.

"Almost," I said.

Sam checked Josh over. "You okay, Josh?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," he answered.

I looked around the lodge. "Is anyone else here? We sent them back an hour ago. They should be here."

"They may be in the basement," said Mike. "We should check."

The four of us went downstairs.

"What are you still doing up here?"

We jumped and whirled around. Tucked behind the stairs out of sight from everyone was Jack. He straightened up and came out of the shadows.

"Where's everybody else?" Sam asked Jack.

"I haven't seen them," said Jack. "I woke up and you were gone. That was about twenty minutes ago. I came up here to see if you were there. This is all the farther I got."

Jack looked at Josh. "See you found your friend."

"Yeah," said Sam. "Meet Josh Washington."

Jack hummed. "So the last of the Washington kids. Sorry about your sisters."

Josh gave a small nod. "It's okay. It'll be okay."

I turned to Jack. "He's off his meds and the withdrawal symptoms aren't the best for these kind of conditions."

"Well," Jack grumbled to Josh. "Best get your wits together, boy, or we won't be getting out of here."

"Are you going to be okay, Jack?" I asked. He looked horrible. He was pale and sweating. I was worried about infection setting in even after I thought I disinfected and cleaned his wounds.

"Well, I'm not dead yet," he replied. "You could use some practice with your sutures."

"Sorry," I said. "I never had to do it before. I know the basic principle. It's not like I had the time."

"It'll hold until I get home," said Jack.

"Yeah, about that," Mike put in. "I went back to the sanatorium and the Wendigo had gotten out."

Jack sighed. "You had to kill them, didn't you?"

"Hey, it was either me and the wolves or the Wendigo," Mike defended.

Jack shook his head. "There's nothing we can do about it now. I knew it was going to be a matter of time. That's why I had all those barrels sitting around."

Mike tried to cheer Jack up. "Some of your wolves escaped. That white one had some sense to him."

Jack smiled wanly. "That one always could get himself out of trouble."

"Jack, we're going to see if we can find the others," I said. "Could you take Josh?"

Jack looked at Josh. "I think I can handle him until you get back."

"Okay." I turned to Josh. "Jack's going to look after you until we get back."

"I know, I heard," Josh said irritably.

I smirked. "See you're somewhat back with us. Let's try to keep it that way."

Jack took Josh's arm. "Let's go, kid. You can help an injured man up the stairs."

They started back up the stairs.

Sam looked at Mike. "Glad to know he's okay."

"Yeah," agreed Mike.

The three of us went into the viewing room.

"How do you rate our chances of survival?" Sam asked.

"I'm trying not to think about it," Mike admitted.

"It's almost dawn," I let them know. "These things don't like daylight."

We walked through the viewing to go around to the basement.

A loud shriek scared us followed by the others charging into the room screaming. Emily shoved Ashley into the door. Behind Ashley, Jack picked her up and pushed her through the door.

"Oh, shit!" Sam cried, seeing multiple Wendigos behind them. She slammed the door shut.

We ran up the stairs.

Chris, Emily, and Ashley had run up one set of stairs and Mike, Sam, and I went up the other set. In the great room were Jack and Josh. Nobody was moving. They were all looking up at something on the ceiling of the great room.

Sitting on the hanging art sculpture was Wendigo Hannah, crouched and waiting.

"Don't move," Mike whispered. "Don't fucking move a muscle."

Behind us, we could hear the other Wendigo coming up the stairs. Clearly a locked door didn't stop them. They either figured out how to unlock it or just ripped it off its hinges. They hopped over the railings and skittered about the room. There were only two, bringing the total of Wendigo in the room to three.

Wendigo Hannah jumped to a railing on the second floor and shrieked. One Wendigo screeched back. The two of them started fighting. Wendigo Hannah smashed it into the stairs before slamming it into the fireplace. It only stunned the other Wendigo, but it broke the gas pipe to the fireplace.

Mike, Sam, and I looked at the broken pipe. We then looked at a lamp that was missing a lampshade. Finally our gaze settled on the light switch by the door. The three of us looked at each other and nodded.

Wendigo Hannah finished with the first Wendigo and now turned its attention to the second Wendigo. That fight lasted a few seconds before Wendigo Hannah tore its opponent's head off.

Sam took a step back and stepped on a creaking floorboard. Wendigo Hannah turned to her direction. Sam froze. Wendigo stalked over to her.

In the meantime, Mike slowly made it to the lamp and carefully broke the glass bulb.

Chris bailed out the door.

The Wendigo heard the glass breaking and turned its attention to Mike. It perched on the back of a chair before leaping over to where it heard the glass breaking. It stood over Mike, searching for him. It sniffed, trying to scent him. It pulled its lips back in a snarl.

"Hey!" Sam yelled at it.

Wendigo Hannah turned back to Sam and screeched.

Emily took the opportunity to run out of the lodge.

Wendigo Hannah returned to where it had been standing. It didn't know how close to Sam it was. It shrieked, trying to get its prey to run. But Sam didn't run. She stayed perfectly still. After not seeing its prey it turned away. Towards Jack and Josh.

Sam and I quickly moved, finding a place to hide. Sam ducked behind a support beam and I pressed myself up against the fireplace. My spot wasn't very good by any means, but I was out of the way of any stalking Wendigo.

However, our footsteps made enough noise for Wendigo Hannah to turn around again.

Ashley now ran outside.

I looked at Josh and Jack. Josh was pale, looking completely out of it. Jack wasn't in that good of shape, but he was aware of what was happening. I pointedly looked from Jack to the open door.

Jack nodded and took Josh's arm.

Josh let out a whimper.

Jack froze, looking at Wendigo Hannah. It was still focused on the noise it heard from Sam and me. He gave Josh's arm a tug and began to slowly lead him to the door.

The other Wendigo got back up and was up on the second floor. It shrieked, challenging Wendigo Hannah.

Sam moved again to a sturdier hiding place over by the stone fireplace, closer to me.

Mike backed his way to the door before running out.

Jack and Josh were still in the lodge.

Wendigo Hannah turned back around to Sam. This time was the closest it had been.

I glanced to see where Jack and Josh were. Jack was shoving Josh out the door. They were clear.

Sam let out a scream that caught my attention. Wendigo Hannah had her by the jaw, holding her high off the ground. It had its other arm pulled back, ready to strike.

I grabbed the first thing handy – the fire poker. "Hannah!"

Wendigo Hannah stopped and turned.

I stepped forward and swung at its face. The poker caught Wendigo Hannah in the eyes.

Sam fell to the floor.

I dropped to the floor as well and waited.

Wendigo Hannah blinked a few times and looked around for movement. It was looking for something above waist height.

Sam looked at me, wide-eyed and silently asking if I was out of my mind.

I looked at the switch and then her.

Sam gave me a look of horror.

"Go," I mouthed.

Sam gave her head a barely perceptible shake.

"Do it," I mouthed.

"No," Sam mouthed back.

The other Wendigo circled Wendigo Hannah, issuing a challenge.

Wendigo Hannah let out a shriek and turned on it.

Sam made a break for the door.

Wendigo Hannah saw Sam running and made to chase.

I jumped up and threw the fire poker, bouncing it off its head. I didn't bother to see if I got its attention. I just ran.

Sam could make it to the switch, but I was in the line of fire. I had to make it to the door across the room. I had enough left in me for one more manipulation.

Shield. Shield. Shield!

I got myself lined up with the door.

The blast from the explosion propelled me into the door. The wooden blinds and glass gave and I was sent into the snow outside.

For the second time in the last hour, I was burned. I rolled in the snow, not knowing if I was on fire, but I wasn't taking any chances. The shield I had created around myself had kept me from getting debris lodged in me.

Once I was certain I was not on fire at all, I stopped rolling and sat up. The lodge was completely engulfed in flames. Above it, the Wendigo spirits shrieked as they circled the lodge before finally disappearing. I let out a sigh of relief. We made it. I did it.

I got to my feet and found my bag. It was in surprisingly good shape considering what it had been through tonight. I picked it up and started to make my way around the burning structure.

My watch beeped. I looked at it and saw the countdown had reached 00:00 and was flashing. The sun was up. We had made it until dawn.

Just one thing: I didn't hear helicopters.

* * *

 **They made it until dawn, but the story isn't over just yet. You see why you may have a like/dislike relationship with this chapter now? The epilogue is being worked on right now, but I don't have a lot of it at the moment.**

 **Other things that will be happening in the future unrelated to this story: I plan on making a list of fanfictions that I've read this year that have defied my expectations. They're going to be the ones that I wouldn't mind re-reading several times, but haven't made it into my favorites list. For the record, I like to keep my favorites list "current" and uncluttered. There are times when I remove a story from my favorites list because it's completed and I have it bookmarked in my browser. So at some point this month, I will be starting a list of fics that can be viewed in my profile page if anyone is interested.**

 **Until then, you know what to do: leave a comment/review or maybe even a private message and just wait for the final chapter of** _ **Lucid Dream: Until Dawn**_ **.**


	12. 11: Dawn: 0 Hours Until Dawn

**Hey, everybody! I would like to thank each and every one of you for supporting this story so much. It's sad to see it come to an end, but it must. I do have an important announcement for you: The Broken Masterpiece is holding an Until Dawn Awards contest to highlight the hidden gems in the fandom. Submissions for stories are closed, but everything is up for voting for the month of December. It is the reviewers who are the judges of this contest and The Broken Masterpiece is still looking for a few. There is a link in The Broken Masterpiece's profile page that lists all the details, nominees, requirements for judges, and all other information. I will say this now for The Broken Masterpiece; if you wish to be a judge and vote, please read all the nominees, not just vote for the story because that's the only one you read or because you're friends with the author. Try to be fair here.**

 **Special thanks goes to YouTubers Markiplier and Jacksepticeye. If it wasn't for them, I would have never known about Until Dawn at all and this story wouldn't exist. If you two are reading this, thank you so much for creating your videos. You guys are amazing. You probably get it all the time, but you seriously are amazing.**

* * *

I shielded my face as I made my way around the side of the burning lodge. Ash and smoke were blowing in my direction, hindering my vision. I walked around the other side of the lodge. The wind took the smoke in a different direction. I could see and breathe better now.

I found the others sitting at the picnic stable or standing in the snow in the backyard. They were all looking at what was left of the lodge.

"Everybody okay?" I called.

They all turned to me like they saw a ghost.

"Tempest?" Ashley squeaked.

Mike ran over to me. "Are you okay? How did you get out?" He led me back over to the group.

"Eh, I didn't, depending on your definition," I answered. "The blast knocked me out the opposite door before I could get to it."

Sam looked like she was about to collapse in relief. "Oh, thank god. I thought I killed you. Are you sure you're okay?"

My clothes were singed. "Yeah, I'm fine. My ears are ringing a little, but I'm okay."

Sam surprised me when she hugged me. "Oh, good."

I pulled back and looked at the rest of the group. "Everybody in one piece?"

"We're okay," Chris spoke up.

I nodded.

"Can we please get off this fucking mountain now?" Emily asked.

"Second that," Ashley chimed in.

"What about Jess and Matt?" Mike asked. "We still haven't found them."

Emily scoffed. "They'll find their own way off the mountain."

"Maybe not," said Sam. "If Jess is alive, she's in bad shape."

"I don't know if you noticed, Sam, but some of us aren't that great of shape either," Ashley pointed out. "Chris's leg's messed up and Josh really needs help."

"And the old man here isn't looking so great," Chris tried to joke.

Jack growled. "I can still beat your ass."

"They have a point," I said. "I don't want to leave Jess and Matt behind, but we have injured." I did a quick count. "Emily, Ashley, either of you fit to drive?"

"Yeah," they both replied.

"Okay, if we give you the cable car key, could one of you get to my car and pick up Chris, Josh, and Jack and get them either to the hospital or the police? One of you would have to drive back and get the rest of us."

Ashley nodded. "I can do that."

"Guys!"

We turned to the tree line. Matt walked out, supporting Jess.

"Jess!" cried Mike, running over to her. "Oh, my god, Jessica."

Sam and I ran over as well.

"Holy shit, Jess," Sam commented. "You okay?"

Jess looked up at her. "No," she whimpered. "It really hurts."

"And I doubt the cold is doing you much good," I said. I put my bag down and opened it. There was still a set of clothes that Jess could wear. I found a pair of sweatpants and a sweater. "Here."

Jess nodded and tugged off her boots to put the pants on. Mike helped her with her jacket and sweater.

Matt had the decency to look away.

I looked at the cuts on Jess's body. "Do you want me to clean some of those out?"

Jess shook her head. "I just want to get out of here."

"Okay," I said. "We're getting out of here. Change of plans! We're all taking the cable car down the mountain. Mike, Matt, help Jack. Ashley, you help Chris. Sam, you keep an eye on Josh. Emily, you can help me with Jess."

I slung my bag over my shoulder and supported Jess one side. Emily took her other side, not saying anything out of shock at Jess's condition.

It was a slow walk to the cable car station. No one said much of anything, only to check on who they were looking after.

Once we were at the cable car station, Sam called the cable car back up to the station and we all got on board.

"I thought help was coming," Sam said.

I nodded. "I know."

"Did we ever get a reply?" she asked.

I looked at Mike. "Do you have the phones yet?"

Mike reached in his pocket and pulled out the phones. "I think one of them went off at some point."

I checked Josh's phone first. There was one message.

I CALLED THE RANGERS. HELP IS COMING.

I put Josh's phone down and then checked mine. I had several new messages on it.

YOU HAVE EARNED A TROPHY: THEY ALL LIVE.

YOU HAVE EARNED A TROPHY: FOUR DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS.

YOU HAVE EARNED A TROPHY: THE QUICKER MAN.

YOU HAVE EARNED A TROPHY: THE SKILLFUL WOLFMAN.

YOU HAVE EARNED A TROPHY: THE PSYCHO PATH.

YOU HAVE EARNED A TROPHY: DON'T SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH.

YOU HAVE EARNED A TROPHY: FATAL GRUDGE.

YOU HAVE EARNED A TROPHY: ASHLEY SNAPS.

YOU HAVE EARNED A TROPHY: LET eM IN.

YOU HAVE EARNED A TROPHY: NIGHT OF THE TOTEM HUNTER.

A few trophies were missed, but I didn't care. My mission was completed. Josh was alive and getting off the mountain. That was the main thing.

Jack let out a sigh. "Before we get to the police, I want to tell you something. It's about what happened a year ago."

I turned to Jack. "You saw what happened to the twins, didn't you?"

Jack nodded. "Many years ago, my grandfather hunted those possessed by the curse. But there was one that eluded him. The fiercest of them all: the Makkapitew. It was a terrible thing and my grandfather could not defeat it. Sometime after, the prospectors came to mine this mountain until a cave-in trapped the men and woke the curse again. And there were dozens of men, no food, no light. And in that blackness, a hunger came. They were consumed by their abominable cravings and driven mad. Murderers. Cannibals. Eating human flesh. And if you kill this monstrous thing, the spirit is released and swirls the mountain like an evil wind waiting to possess again. It is best not to kill them, but trap them and taunt them with fire. After all these years, after many moons and many hunts, the Makkapitew still roamed free out of my grasp, beyond my reach."

Mike groaned. He probably would have tried to escape the Wendigo instead of killing them.

"Until one night a year ago," Jack went on. "I was finally able to get him in my sights. But we were not alone in the woods that night. While I was tracking the Makkapitew, it was tracking something else. The Makkapitew forced your friends over the mountain. There was nothing I could do. I couldn't save your friends. But I could avenge them. I hunted the Wendigo down and doused it with fire. The Makkapitew was dead."

There was silence in the cable car.

"Why didn't you report it?" Sam asked.

"I didn't want people up here snooping around and getting killed," said Jack. "There was nothing they could do for the dead."

"Except that Hannah didn't die in the fall," said Mike.

Jack frowned. "That fall would have killed anybody."

Sam shook her head. "She survived with a broken leg. She was down there for a month."

"Oh, my god."

"Are you sure?"

"Holy shit."

"Beth died in the fall and Hannah buried her," said Sam. "But she dug her back up. That Wendigo, the big one . . ."

Jack groaned. "What have I done?"

"Jack, it's not your fault," I told him. "You really thought they were both dead."

"What are you saying?" Chris asked.

I looked at Sam and Mike. "Do you want me to tell them?"

They both nodded.

"That big Wendigo was once Hannah," I stated.

Again there was silence.

The cable car came to a stop at the bottom of the mountain. We exited the station and were met by several rangers.

"Oh, thank god!" Emily cheered.

In a matter of minutes, we were getting in the back of squad cars and being driven to the closest police station. I shared a car with Sam and Josh, Sam in the middle.

"Is it true?" Josh whispered.

"What, Josh?" asked Sam.

"That Hannah . . . you know . . ."

"Yeah," was Sam's somber reply.

I leaned over. "Josh, Hannah was gone after she became the Wendigo. There was nothing we could do. It had to be done."

Josh gave a whimpered. "It had to be done," he repeated quietly.

I reached across and took Josh's hand. "You're going to be okay. Let's take care of you first."

Josh nodded.

Sam slipped her arm around his shoulders and let him rest his head against her shoulder. "We're alive. That's what matters."

"But Hannah," Josh started.

"Has been gone for awhile," Sam interrupted. "Let's worry about ourselves right now."

Josh nodded again.

We were quiet for the rest of the ride to the police station.

When we entered the police station, three people nearly ran Sam and me over to get to Josh. One I recognized right away. The other two I gathered were Josh's parents.

Sam and I stepped aside and waited. Mrs. Washington fussed over Josh and Mr. Washington was trying to find out what exactly happened. Meanwhile, Dr. Hill was trying to check Josh over to determine if he needed to be rushed to a hospital right away.

Other officers brought the others in and began asking if we needed anything. Transport was ready for Jack and Jess to go to the hospital after they were through with questioning. Chris was currently having his leg checked and rewrapped.

"Can I get you anything, miss?" an officer asked.

"I think we can all use some water and maybe a soda," I answered. "None of us have eaten all night and we haven't slept either."

"I'll get you some coffee, Miss . . ."

"Avalon. Tempest Avalon."

Dr. Hill heard and turned towards me. He left Josh with his parents and came over. "Tempest? You were the one who sent the message?"

I nodded. "Yes. I didn't know who else I could get to that would already know where we were. The signal is really bad up there."

"More like non-existent," Dr. Hill corrected. "You were very lucky."

"You have no idea," I said. "I can't imagine what would have happened if I hadn't been there."

Dr. Hill frowned. "I don't remember Josh saying that any of his friends were named Tempest."

"Because I'm not. I was a stranded motorist. They were going to let me stay until I could get the first bus back to town."

"Very lucky indeed," said Dr. Hill.

"Would you excuse me? I really need to sit down," I said.

"I need to get back to Josh anyway," said Dr. Hill. "Thank you for helping him."

I smiled and nodded. The officer came back with a coffee and a bottle of water for me. The others were getting drinks of their own. I found a chair in the corner where I could sit and have my drink. From where I was sitting, I saw three officers take Ashley, Emily, and Chris into the interview rooms.

I looked down at my hands. All five rings began to glow brightly.

I was looking at Ashley across the table in the interview room.

"I didn't move," Ashley was telling the interviewer. "I thought they were just messing with me. Then I saw it behind the old man and Tempest. And I just froze."

"What happened next?" the interviewer asked.

"Tempest . . . she got the door open," Ashley continued. "It must not have been locked."

"But you said Chris was locked out," the interviewer reminded.

"Yes, but it must have been stuck," Ashley defended. "She opened it like it was unlocked the whole time."

"What did you do next?"

"We went downstairs into the old hotel," Ashley continued. "Tempest helped the old man, Jack. He was bleeding so much! Then Mike went to find Josh and then we found the journal. We left Jack in the old hotel and went looking for Mike. When we were down there, I thought I heard Jessica. Tempest was with me when I heard her. But when we got closer, something didn't sound right. It sounded like Jessica, but she wasn't answering us."

"All right. What happened with Josh?"

"I-I stabbed him and I tried to get away, but I didn't know," Ashley began to babble. "I swear I didn't know!"

"Didn't know?" the interviewer repeated. "Who did you stab?"

"I-I stabbed the maniac, I didn't know it was Josh, but then he was the psycho and how was I supposed to know Josh had all the saws and the gun and oh, my god!" Ashley let out a sob.

I watched as Ashley forced herself to calm down.

"I'm sorry," Ashley apologized. "I'm getting so upset."

"It's all right. Take your time."

Ashley shook her head. "Tempest told me not to get hysterical over every little thing."

"I wouldn't consider what you went through tonight as 'little'," said the interviewer.

Ashley shook her head. "She tried to tell me what was happening and I just kept freaking out on her. She was so calm throughout the entire night."

I no longer was looking at Ashley, but Emily.

"He held it right up to my face," she told her interviewer. She pointed to her nose. "Right here – right in front of my nose and he could have shot me, the prick! I mean, you go out with a guy for however long and you think you know him, but man, this one really takes the cake."

"Him? Who do you mean?" asked the interviewer.

"Mike," Emily pretty much spat. "He seriously was going to shoot me. I'm glad Tempest was there."

"Why do you say that?"

"She stepped in front of me. Mike could have shot her, too! She was such a bitch to me earlier in the night, but she just stood there. She didn't flinch."

The interviewer could be heard scribbling something down.

"You bringing in Meatbrain next?" Emily asked the interviewer. "Gonna kick him around a bit for me?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Meatbrain? Mister Musclebrawn? Matt the incredible sulk?"

"Is there something we need to know?" the interviewer asked her.

"Oh, no, nothing important, except, um, you know, how he basically left me to die up on a freakin' tumbling tower like a world class douche nozzle," snapped Emily.

Again the room changed slightly and now I was looking at Chris.

"The old man . . . I, er . . . I don't know how to describe him, I mean -."

"You said you thought he was stalking you at first," said his interviewer. "Did anyone else in your group think that?"

Chris shrugged slightly. "Well, yeah-."

"Is it possible they could have attacked him?"

Chris frowned. "What? No, no, you don't understand. Don't you underst-."

"If he attacked you-."

"He saved my life," Chris interrupted. "And he almost died because of it."

"What happened exactly?" asked the interviewer.

"It came at him," said Chris. "It almost had him. Tempest threw her lantern at it. It still got him, but we had a chance."

I opened my eyes and noticed Sam sitting next to me.

"You okay?" she asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Just tired. How's everyone else?"

"They're taking Jack to the hospital now," Sam told me. "He's not doing so well."

I sighed. "Infection."

"Hey, he'll be okay," Sam comforted. "You did what you could on short notice."

"Yeah, well, after we get out of here, I'm signing up for a survivalist course," I told her.

"Not emergency medicine?" asked Sam.

I shook my head. "Survivalist courses do more than just emergency medicine. It's about using what you have and being prepared for anything. I want to be able to survive out in the middle of nowhere."

Sam nodded. "I might just do the same thing."

Ashley, Emily, and Chris left the interview rooms. They were going to go to the hospital to get checked out.

Jess, Matt, and Mike were called next.

"I'm gonna try to get a little more sleep before they call me in," I told Sam.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," said Sam. "What do you think is going to happen to Jack?"

I shrugged and winced at the pain in my shoulder. "I'm not sure. I'm hoping they're going to take him seriously. Maybe he can work something out with the Washingtons."

Sam nodded. "Mrs. Washington will work something out with him. He helped to save Josh. She already lost her girls."

"She should forgive him," I said. "It wasn't his fault that Hannah and Beth died."

Sam hung her head. "No, that was us. That was our fault."

I only looked at Sam.

"Jess planned it, Emily encouraged it, Mike was willing bait, and the others just went along with it," said Sam. "I knew about it, but I didn't do anything to stop it until it was too late."

I nodded. "There is blame enough to spread around. I just hope in the future that you are all a bit wiser."

Sam was quiet for a moment. "Is there anything you want me to say or not to say?"

"What?"

"I can lie about something if you need me to," she said.

"What do we need to lie about?" I asked.

"About Hannah being a Wendigo."

I shook my head. "I won't ask you to lie about it, but we don't need to say anything about it. We'll see what the others said. We'll go from there."

"All right," said Sam. She looked down at her hands. "I don't want Josh to go to jail."

"It's not up to us, not entirely anyway," I said. "I'm not pressing charges, I'll tell you that right now. He's going to have to be committed until he gets himself straightened out."

Sam sighed.

I closed my eyes again.

This time I was looking at Jess.

"How did you end up in the mines?" the interviewer asked.

"I was carried," Jess said slowly. "And taken . . . and . . ."

"What carried you?" the interviewer asked. "One of your friends?"

"No," replied Jess. "It was down there . . . it came from down there-."

"I'm sorry, what are you talking about?"

"The mines," answered Jess. "There's something in the mines."

"What did you see?"

She gave a shake of her head. "I don't know."

"Your friend, Ashley, she told us she tried to help you," said the interviewer.

"No," said Jess.

"She said she heard you calling out."

Jess shook her head again. "No . . . not me. . . Mike . . ."

"What do you remember?" asked the interviewer.

Jess took a moment to think. "He came for me . . . He did!"

"Came for you?" asked the interviewer.

"He tried to save me," Jess told the interviewer. She smiled. "He tried to save me."

I blinked and Jess was replaced by Matt.

"I was right there," said Matt. "And I could have done something – I tried to do something . . . I wasn't good enough."

"What happened after you and Emily left the group?" asked the interviewer.

"We were going to try to get to Tempest's car, but we couldn't use the cable car," said Matt. "We went to the fire tower instead, but the radio didn't work. We couldn't get a message out. Emily and I started fighting. She basically called me useless and I told her I had enough of her putting me down. Tempest had called her out on being selfish when we first got there. Emily and Jess had been fighting and Tempest put a stop to it. I told her Tempest was right about her. Then the tower just fell."

"It fell?" asked the interviewer. "Where did it fall?"

"In the mines!" snapped Matt. "Emily was hanging there. I was on top. I was trying to get to her and she was screaming at me. I had jumped off the tower to get to her, but when I did, the tower fell the rest of the way down the mineshaft. I don't know how she survived."

"What about Jess?" the interviewer asked.

"Jess, oh, god," muttered Matt. "She was a mess. She said she fell. I saw where she fell. I don't how she's still alive. She told me she was attacked."

"Did she say who attacked her?"

Matt shook his head. "She said it was a monster."

"A monster?"

"Yeah, and then we saw it," Matt continued. "I don't know what the hell it was. I just knew it was trying to kill us."

"You're saying a monster attacked you?"

"It sounds crazy, but that's what happened!"

Matt faded away and replaced by Mike.

"He was out of his fucking mind," Mike told the interviewer. "He wanted to hurt us. Yeah, he . . . and . . . I thought he was the one who attacked Jess. I was so mad at him. Tempest . . . she tried to keep me from hurting him."

"After you found out that Josh was the maniac, what did you do?"

"We took him out to the shed, Chris and me," Mike answered. "The girls took Tempest upstairs. Chris went in and stayed out with Josh. I heard screaming and ran back inside. That's when Emily got back to the lodge. Jack came a few minutes later."

I opened my eyes when Sam nudged me.

"I think it's going to be our turn soon," said Sam.

"Yeah." I stood up. "Hey, Sam."

"Hmm?"

"Despite the absolute hell we just went through, it was nice meeting you," I told her.

Sam frowned.

Jess came out of the interview room and Sam was immediately called in.

Sam stood up and looked at me.

I smiled. "You tell them what you want to tell them. I won't hold any of it against you."

"Tempest? What are you saying?"

"It really was nice meeting you, Sam." I held out my hand to her.

Sam stared at it for a few seconds. She shook my hand. "I'm glad I did."

The one officer called for Sam again.

Sam hugged me. "Thank you."

"I'll be all right, Sam," I assured her. I put my hands on her shoulders. "And you'll be fine, too."

"Why do I get the feeling that we're not going to ever see you again?" Sam asked.

"I won't lie, Sam. You probably won't."

"Then thank you," Sam told me. "And good luck."

Sam went to have her interview. Before she went in, she glanced over her shoulder at me.

I gave her a smile and she disappeared into the interview room.

I sat down again and closed my eyes once more to see Sam's interview.

"I thought we were close," Sam told her interviewer. "After his sisters disappeared, he'd come and talk to me. He said I was the only one who understood him. I thought . . . I thought we had a connection."

"If you need someone to talk to-."

"I'm fine," said Sam.

"Sometimes, after a traumatic experience-."

"I said I'm fine."

"Okay." I could hear the interviewer move some papers. "What about Tempest? How did she react to everything?"

"Calm, rational," Sam answered. "Even when Jack was bleeding everywhere, she kept her cool. I mean, she wasn't totally emotionless, but she didn't panic. She was like a guardian angel. I don't think we would have made it off the mountain without her. I'd be dead if it wasn't for her."

"Your friends say they saw a monster," the interviewer commented. "What exactly did you see?"

Sam leaned over the table slightly. "You need to listen to me. I don't care if you believe me or not. Doesn't matter. Because you will. You need to go down to the mines."

"What's in the mines, Sam?"

Sam took a breath. "I've seen what's down there . . . and I'd give anything to unsee it."

I opened my eyes.

Sam and Mike were just coming out of their interview rooms. They said something to each other, but the Mike turned to where I was sitting. He tapped Sam's arm and nodded over in my direction.

I stood up and picked up my bag. I gave them a small wave, a smile, and a wink.

Their faces were priceless when I disappeared right in front of them.

* * *

 **I know I possibly could have come up with a better ending, but this just seemed to fit. I know some of you wanted Tempest to stay, but she had to wake up at some point.**

 **Again, I would like to point your attention to The Broken Masterpiece's Until Dawn Awards. Judges are still needed and the link with all the information is on The Broken Masterpiece's profile page.**


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